Black Roses and Angel Witches
by VictimofYourOwnCreation
Summary: AU - 2021. In the aftermath of the apocalypse, the time of the assassin flourishes. There was never a reason to think that our line of business would do something good for other people than ourselves. We kill people for a living, after all. SasuSaku. Discontinued.
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

_"In this world, nothing is absolute, which leaves everything open for rectification."_

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><p>The silence that lingered around us pressed on my eardrums. The time must be at least midnight, judging from the bright lunar light that shone down upon me and my comrade. The tension in the air was thick; you couldn't <em>not <em>be on your guard around these parts, and we had to be around these parts a lot. You kind of get used to it, actually. But your instincts will always keep you on the edge. That's just another part of being an assassin.

My comrade sighed. Plucking at a dried blood stain in his messy golden manes, he gazed up at the stars; the stars that cursed him with his dreaded fate.

Some people - actually, a _lot_ of people - would wonder why I even so much as looked at him. Wonder why I didn't cast him aside, knowing his story. But that's just it. _Because_ of hearing his story, knowing it inside out, I can't help but embrace his powers and help him put them to good use. Not only because I am part of his story.

After all, knowing his fate and mine, one can only conclude we're not so different.

Naruto was born on October 10, 2000, known in these parts as 'The Day of Reckoning'. The story has it that every year on that day, one unlucky new-born falls victim to an ageless curse. Some people shrug it off as a fairy tale, but I know it's not.

Hell, I know it's not.

How?

Because I've seen it with my own eyes.

From the tip of my finger sparked a tiny flame, illuminating the rough winding road that lay ahead of us. Though small in appearance, it bathed my features in light, casting long shadows behind us. The dark bangs of hair that framed my face bent under the light midnight breeze. I had inherited quite a few distinctive features from my ancestors, along with the trademark Uchiha hair color. I stared into the flickering flame, reminiscing my history with my best friend.

When I first met Naruto, he appeared to be a kid like any other: goofy, innocent, a bit lazy, and always carrying a big smile on his face. It was not until I found out he was born a 'Child of the Ten' (a horribly overused nickname, I couldn't help but notice), that the problems started.

At first, my parents shunned him because he could be 'the cursed one'. Then the rumor spread around town, and before we knew it, angry mobs were gathering on his doorstep. His parents always convinced the mobs that Naruto was curse-free, as his father worked for some exorcist... thing. It slowly died out, and soon enough life was back to normal. We became friends, and hung out with each other more and more.

Ironically enough, it was Naruto's tenth birthday when he was declared public enemy number one.

I came to visit for his birthday when I got caught in this maelstrom. I didn't know by then, but when I came to his place I found Naruto's parents torn to shreds in a pool of blood, with Naruto crying over their remains. He kept repeating the same sentence over and over: "I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to..."

I couldn't fiigure out what happened or what Naruto had to do with it, but I sure as hell knew that we were no longer safe here. When on a safe distance hiding in the forest, I got the whole story from Naruto.

He was the one who did it. He was the one who killed his parents.

He was the cursed child.

Young and foolish as I was, I didn't abandon or shun him. Which I wouldn't have done anyway. We were friends. We were going to make things right. Together.

"Hey, Sasuke. How long do I have to drag this fucker around?"

I looked into Naruto's blood red eyes. "Chill out. We're nearly there."

I soon learned that Naruto had a demon sealed within his soul. The demon would lie dormant for most of his life, but on the tenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year when the child would turn ten years old, the demon would burst out on a complete rampage.

Naruto killed his parents in blind rage, and he didn't even fully know it. All he knew was that he did it, and that he was going to get in trouble for it.

"Seriously, Sasuke. How much further? My shoulder is getting sore."

"Shut up, dumbass. We're here."

"Finally," Naruto, now 21, said tossing the lifeless body off his shoulder. It hit the cold soil with a dull thud, as we looked up to a shabby old door. There was a single black rose on it, although barely visible, worn over time and weather. Naruto knocked on the door, which opened up to reveal a pitch-black square hole. He picked up the body again and we entered.

Welcome to the headquarters of the Order of the Black Rose, or Black Rose for short, the most prestigious assassin bureau you can find.

I am Sasuke Uchiha, elite assassin and one of the highest-ranking members of the Black Rose at merely 21 years old.

The Order was founded by a guy named Jiraiya. We suspect Jiraiya to have been very close to Naruto's parents, as he immediately opened up to the blonde the moment I brought him in. My brother, Itachi, told me about the Order. He said it was the perfect place for 'people like us'.

There wasn't a single member of the Black Rose that I could rightfully call 'normal'. There was always some extraordinary hook or twist to every one of our recruits; demons, vampires, werewolves, mutants and freaks of nature were embraced instead of cast aside, their powers put to use instead of feared. For example: an advanced genetic mutation in our visual perception allowed Itachi and me to anticipate on situations that had yet to happen. In addition, we moved faster, reacted quicker and struck more precise. With proper development, we could even see the life force of human and creature alike.

Having dreamt of scorching evildoers with the flames of retribution and command the searing beauty of the flame, I was more than delighted that the apocalypse had ignited the essence of magic inside the human body as well. Being brothers, Itachi had taught my to control my fire and develop it into a lethal weapon of immense power.

There were only a handful of members within the Black Rose outranking me. Of course, you had the big boss, Jiraiya. His right-hand man was Kakashi, a suspected vampire with silver hair and insane powers. He was trained in the classical ways of the Ninja, the ultimate assassin, and could bend lightning. A feat that was both extremely dangerous and extremely useful. He was Jiraiya's replacement as the head of the Order when he was absent. He also taught Naruto how to control his tenant.

Tsunade was about evenly ranked with Kakashi. She was the head of the medical and research department, and supplied us with better cures and antidotes than any hospital or medical laboratory could ever do. Her assistant was Shizune, a good-looking woman whose breath turns poisonous at will.

Last but not least, there was Itachi. In charge of the new recruits, and under his command we rose to the most promising and flourishing assassination bureau in the world. He was also the field commander, and current holder of the most hits record. Every contract that seemed impossible went to Itachi, and so far, he didn't fail a single one. He even tracked down and assassinated the world's most renowned terrorist leader in 2012.

That it caused the officials to burst out in global nuclear warfare was not our problem. Well, not really. It was just as the old folks predicted: mankind would ultimately destroy themselves in their own arrogance and ignorance. So here we were, mutated assassins banding together in a futile attempt to make the best of it.

It was that or moping around and wasting your days away, like the rest of the population.

Back to the present day, that same Itachi just arrived to pick up our hit. He complimented Naruto on his handiwork and sent the body off to the lab for ID and section. Naruto just growled at him, turned to me and beckoned to the bar.

On bartending duty was Kiba Inuzuka, at twenty years rightfully earning his title of prodigy of some native tribe with a more than freaky affilation with wolves and dogs. The apocalypse turned the Inuzuka clan into one of the most ferocious werewolf tribes in the new world, and Kiba willingly offered his services to Jiraiya and the Black Rose. I nodded briefly to the brown-haired adolescent, who in turn smirked back, flashing his feral teeth.

"The usual, I suppose?"

I nodded again as Naruto sat down next to me with a sigh. "Sometimes I wonder why we're still working this hard for our money. I mean, fuck, this world has turned to a living hell anyway, why not make use of it and go Viking?"

"Because we have some dignity," I replied matter-of-factly without looking up.

"Yeah, killing people for money is totally honorable," Kiba sneered. "But I guess we're not as brutal as the Moon's Eye."

"Agreed," I said taking my beer from Kiba. I snorted, briefly thinking about the rivaling assassin's order, The Disciples of the Moon's Eye. "Every one of their kills ends in a fucking massacre."

"Incapable of handling your jobs much?" Naruto snorted. Kiba and I snickered.

I downed my beer and was about to order another when Itachi popped his head into the bar. "Sasuke. Can you go pick up the contracts from the Red Light district tonight?"

"Why me?" I argued, turning to glare at my brother. "Karin works that district tonight, can't she just bring 'em in when her shift is over?"

"I sent Karin off on some special op with Anko yesterday. They haven't returned yet. I need those contracts." He shot me a stern look. "Do me a favor, will you?"

Itachi left without another word. I rolled my eyes and sighed while I ordered another beer. Naruto muttered something to Kiba and snickered. Kiba's smirk turned a tad dirtier. I looked at Naruto questioningly. He shrugged.

"I said Karin and Anko are probably long done with their contract, they just took a day off to spend with each other. I mean, we all know the two of them swing both ways." He sighed. "What I'd give to see those two get it on..."

"What I'd give to live one day without your stupidity," I retorted without batting an eye. Given, both females were more than just pretty. But Karin was a slut, and - Well, so was Anko.

Notorious for having a brief affair with Kakashi, Anko Mitarashi actually was a vampire, a sexy mistress with a thing for S&M. Rumor has it she was the one to turn Kakashi, but then again, we're still uncertain if Kakashi's a vampire in the first place (it would make sense, considering the face masks he started wearing). Anyhow, her vampiric stealth, speed and blood lust made her a force to be reckoned with.

Karin was a succubus, a diabolical mutant with a thriving lust for two things: sex, and blood. Her contracts often resulted in a, quoting Karin herself: "A wonderful orgasm and a blood fest beyond your imagination." As Naruto not-so-subtly mentioned earlier, she swings both ways. Whenever she's in for a little experiment, she hooks up with Anko (much to Jiraiya's delight and Tsunade's dismay). No one really knew what her background was or how she got the job, but she was terrific at what she did and that's all that counted.

Anko and Karin worked the Red Light district. Once the most shunned neighbourhood of the city, the Apocalypse caused it to flourish like never before. Important political figures no longer dined in fancy restaurants or lounged at high-end meeting spots. Brothels and sleazy bars were where the most important decisions were made these days. Since politicians and other authorities made up the majority of the hit list, Jiraiya would've been crazy to not have a few of his hitmen in the area. And frankly, it wasn't that surprising that Karin and Anko volunteered.

"Earth - or what's left of it - to Sasuke!" Naruto shouted in my ear. I instinctively hooked him in the jaw, with Kiba cracking up while watching the scene unfold. The blonde demon host scrambled up from the floor, snarled and assumed a fighting stance. I glared at him.

"Knock it off, Dobe. We've got work to do."

"Correction, _you_'ve got work to do," Naruto replied while sitting back down on his bar stool. "I ain't goin' nowhere. I'm done for tod-"

I cut him off by flashing a contract in front of his face. "This one is assigned to you in particular." He cursed, I smirked triumphantly and Kiba started to laugh again.

"Duty calls, demon boy." It was a risky nickname, but for a group as close-knit as ours, it was normal. Kiba, for instance, was often referred to as 'mutt' or 'dog breath'. Everyone called Karin 'slut', but she embraced it. Her own thoughts: "Well, I'm not denying it, am I?" and thus it stuck. I was often referred to as 'prince Sasuke', because of my confidence in my abilities. It was mockingly taken for arrogance. I didn't mind; it was good to be able to fool off a bit, because frankly, this world of ours was serious enough already.

Naruto flipped off the werewolf prodigy and snatched the contract from my hands, reading it over and getting up with an exhausted sigh. I gave the blonde an encouraging, though sarcastic pat on the back, and got up to tend to my respective duty as well.

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><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Let me know what you think, and if there's anything I can work on for the good of my writing. Flamers: get a life. But you're welcome to try, because I need a laugh.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

_"The root of all evil is the heart of a black soul."_

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><p>Lights were shining in all colors of the spectrum. The brightness broke the bane of darkness that the night held over the planet. Only the sanguine moon obscured by the polluted clouds of nuclear dust gave evidence of the late hour. Shabby houses and shady bars made up the streets of this once-proud city. Scavengers, survivors and mutants alike sought refuge in the few buildings that were still standing. It was the law of the strongest: the many that couldn't fight themselves a place in the remains of the city were forced to build themselves homes from the piles of rubble.<p>

It was a minor result of the war, actually.

The real problem (if you would call it that. It could actually come in pretty handy for the likes of assassin guilds and similar organisations) were the mutants. It was as if a divine entity was playing cruel games with humankind, because after the war zombies, vampires, werewolves and just about every other mythical creature ever mentioned in fantasy novels were all over the place. Sometimes it was an advantage, like in Kiba's case. Most of the times, it was just an extra nuisance in the aftermath of a war humankind had a hard time recovering from in the first place.

On the corner of an intersection, a self-proclaimed angel was preaching hollow words of salvation and better times to anyone who would listen. He was attracting quite the audience of desperate souls. Innocent victims, punished for crimes they didn't commit. I shoved my hands in my pockets and looked in the other direction, refusing to witness the suffering mankind had inflicted upon itself any longer.

Unfortunately, there was no true escape.

A weak tug at the seam of my worn leather duster drew my attention from my melancholy thoughts. A figure clad in black held up a hand tucked away in a glove, begging for a coin. I casually tossed one on the floor in front of him, not keen on seeing what light had done to his mutated skin. I had a hunch that it would simply melt from his flesh, which was horrific enough to imagine.

The man immediately started muttering his regards, and thanked his Gods for such an act of compassion in this living hell. I smirked wryly as I continued my trek towards my destination. The guy hadn't been far off.

It was almost as if the curiosity of humankind had prompted them to create their own hell, to see what it looked like. It was a very cynical thought, yes, but what did you expect when you've seen the world been destroyed by its own inhabitants?

I made my way towards the drop point in silence, and without interacting with the locals, providing many distractions in every imaginable form. Weapons, food, drinks, even sex. For the many refugees of the war, it was a blessing to be able to get their minds off their sorrow. Especially the women were highly regarded. For me, or any assassin with proper training for that matter, it was merely another threat to our efficiency.

I gently though forcefully pushed off one of the many lustful young ladies. She looked offended, and I kept an eye on her as I walked along. I didn't expect her to do anything remotely dangerous, but it was just a habit that I had picked up over the years. I was usually swarmed by girls, mostly because of my better-than-average looks. I didn't like to brag and it certainly wasn't of any relevance, but according to the females in the Order (Shizune, Tsunade, Anko and Karin) I wasn't hard on the eyes. And that proved to be annoying, at times. Even though it could work to your advantage the next moment.

As I took a left into the alleyway that I had to be, I noticed the cloaked beggar was following me. Instantly, my instincts as an assassin started working. I suspected there were more reasons for him to hide his face than I'd given him credit for. I sneakily reached for my gun and allowed him to get closer. I walked into a particularly shady alleyway, which also happened to be a dead end, and before he knew it, he had my gun point blank at his forehead.

I glared daggers at him. "Sneaking around is a very dangerous thing to do, especially when following me. Who are you working for?" I demanded. Whoever he worked for, he was inexperienced with being interrogated under gunpoint. A vital flaw in his training, of which I doubted he received any at all.

He cowered and fell to his knees. "I-I was paid to f-f-follow you, th-they wouldn't tell me w-why! I swear!"

"Wrong answer," I sneered and tightened my grip on the trigger. It started to give in to the pressure, and the man cried out in fear. In reality, the safety lock that kept the gun from spraying bullets into my abdomen was untouched. A skilled assassin would've noticed that as well.

"Alright! Alright! Don't shoot me! Moon's Eye sent me!"

"Moon's Eye, huh." It made sense. Stealing contracts from other organisations was their main source of work. Then again, that was a public secret. Everyone knew that. I fixated my glare back on him. This time flicking the safety off, I pressed my gun to his chin, causing droplets of sweat to run across his face. "What kind of Mark did the agent of Moon's Eye carry?"

"Uhh..." His eyes darted from my gun to the floor to my face back to my gun and all over the place. "I-I don't really understand w-what you m-mean by that..." He was fidgeting. He was _lying_.

"Oh?" I raised one eyebrow as a cruel smirk appeared on my lips. "Then how would you know it was an agent of the Moon's Eye?"

"I... I... Please don't shoot me!" He ducked and shielded his head with his hands. Without a trace of remorse showing on my face, I pulled the trigger and a suppressed blow stained the sound of the city. The guy fell at my feet, a bullet hole shaped like a perfect circle in his skull. Blood was leaking out.

A quick inspection learned that my assumptions were right: this man had been a Disciple of the Moon's Eye. I sneered. "Thought playing ignorant could save your sorry hide, huh." I scowled at his remains and carelessly tossed them aside. Just another day at work, if you like.

After meeting my contact at the actual drop point, I made my way back to our headquarters without interferences (in other words, without having to shoot anyone), aside from the girls that promised me 'a good time'. One of them didn't seem to take no for an answer and persisted to pester me until way out of the Red Light district. Truth be told, she _was _rather attractive; lean build, dirty blonde-ish shoulder-length hair and piercing black-green eyes. A hint of make-up showed on her face. Her strapless black dress stopped mid-thigh, revealing a good part of her long legs.

I mentally cursed that I was on duty, because even though I may be Sasuke Uchiha, _the_ Sasuke Uchiha, a male is still a male and thus vulnerable to the temptations of the opposite sex. I sighed deeply, rubbing my temples and trying to block out the seducing scent that she gave off. It was a magical fragrance, that much was certain, but I wasn't quite sure whether it was her own magic ability or a perfume she used. Unbeknownst to me, she smirked.

Then she kissed me.

Again, my instincts went on full alert. Kissing was usually a girl's way to distract a guy and then make off with whatever that guy was carrying and had any value. So while she more or less forced me to kiss her back (damn that tempting smell), I tried with all my might to refrain from losing myself in it. And with success.

When her hand slid into the pockets of my duster, I grabbed her wrist and pulled away, refusing to let go. She gasped and looked up to me, eyes wide with shock and/or anger. I licked my lips and smirked.

"You're good. Too bad I'm going to have to kill you now, you cheap, worthless, treacherous whore." Pushing her to her knees, I whipped out my weapon and gave her one last chance to tell me the truth. "Who are you working for?"

"Ch-Children of the Grave," she stammered. I frowned. The name didn't ring a bell. I disarmed the security on my gun, my way of saying I wasn't playing games. She looked me straight in the eye with a pleading look, one that I would not give in to. Her lower lip quivered. "My lower back... the mark of our organisation."

I sighed and allowed her to stand up. "Hands to the wall," I ordered. Without any hesitation, she complied. I proceeded to check for any hidden knives she could pull out. One was stashed on a leather belt hidden beneath the lace of her stockings. I tossed it aside and took a step back.

"Keep your hands where I can see them. Let's see this mark of yours."

She knew it was hopeless to resist and unzipped her dress, baring her back and revealing a grave digger tattoo. I lowered my gun.

"Looks like you were speaking the truth." She took this as a sign that she was allowed to zip her dress back up, and turned to face me a second after. My stern look never left my face, however. "Necessary safety precaution, as you should know."

She nodded and looked down. "Forgive me for attempting to steal from you," she said bowing. "My name is Narita, and my guild is only just starting up."

I closed my eyes and turned around to continue my journey. At the end of the alleyway, I looked over my shoulder. "Some words of advice: don't lower yourselves to the level of certain organisations such as Moon's Eye."

I didn't await her reply, and walked off. Kakashi and Itachi were sure to find this new development in the field of work interesting, I thought as I heard Narita breathe her hasty regards.

Upon returning, I quickly informed the aforementioned top dogs of the Order of the Children of the Grave. As I had expected, their interest was piqued. Almost immediately after I was dismissed, Kakashi went to put a guy on filling our archives about this new business rival. Naruto and Kiba, however, were more interested in the fact that this chick had kissed me.

"Come on, dude, what was she like?" the werewolf pressed. I glared him off.

Naruto shook me. "Don't be an ass, Teme, we're buddies. Mates, friends, homeboys, brothas, you know?"

I gave the blonde a weird look. "Did you seriously use the word 'homeboy' just now?"

Ultimately, as even the 'feeding Sasuke beer and wrench the truth outta him' tactic proved ineffective, the two gave up. We went back to discussing guns, music and work soon after, before deciding to get some shut-eye. Kiba was leaving on an important hit the day after, and even though his werewolf genes provided a significant increase in stamina, he wasn't invincible.

Lying in my bed and listening to the sounds of the night and the dark, I replayed the past events once more before archiving them in a seperate place in my mind and drifting off into a deep, somewhat peaceful slumber.

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><p>[Author's Note]<p>

In case this isn't really clear to my dear readers: I appreciate your reviews. It's your way of letting me know I'm doing a good job. So don't be rude and share your thoughts. Your reviews are my drive to write. Thanks.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

_"What exactly is the definition of 'truth'? Does 'truth' not exist only in the mind of the individual?"_

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><p>There were times when I was hit with a burst of pride when rumors about our order reached my ear. I overheard two survivors discussing the cause of the war that had spelled our doom, and the name of the Order was dropped in a very admiring way on more than one occasion. The scene for this conversation was the best coffee bar in town, famed for its house specialty and the many attractive, willing waitresses. Stealing a glance at one of them, I felt a smug smirk play with my lips and refused to let it triumph over my trademark stoic composure.<p>

Kakashi had prompted me into playing errand boy once more, to fill in for an anonymous runner that hadn't shown up for his briefing. Shizune had found him dead around the block when she was shopping for supplies, and they needed someone who could protect himself. So here I was, making my way to another drop point and taking a short rest stop. I deserved a little downtime, I thought as I sighed. After what happened last time, I doubted it could get any worse, really. I drank the rest of my espresso scorie nucleari (Whoever had the brilliant idea of naming his coffee 'nuclear waste espresso' deserved a shotgun shell up his ass), left a small tip for the petite brunette with the short dress and charming smile and walked out onto the streets.

While roaming the nightly streets of this post-apocalyptic hell, my mind wandered off to my history as an assassin, and in particular my partnership with Naruto.

Partnerships in our order ususally get assigned by Jiraiya, Kakashi or Itachi, but Naruto's and mine sort of grew naturally over time, which made it that more exceptional. We were able to communicate through a form of telepathy (at least, I could talk to Naruto with my mind. His ability to think his words into my head was lacking, so we mainly used this bond to share battle strategies), which Shizune in particular had been very eager to research. The results had turned out kind of disappointing though, which led to her assigning it to our strong bond of friendship. Itachi later told me that telepathy was a rare trait of our genetical advantage, but Naruto shouldn't be able to return it. I suspected the demon to have a role in this, but I wasn't really keen on promptly asking him.

My mind snapped back to reality when I approached the drop point. There was a certain vibe to these parts that made assassins in particular feel uneasy. It was the feeling of danger clawing its way up along your spine, the feeling of suffering slithering past your legs, the feeling of death wrapping itself around you in a bittersweet embrace. While activating my mutated genes, I thoroughly examined the vincinity, and stepped back into the shadows when I spotted a suspiciously looking figure that watched his surroundings a little too carefully for it to be ordinary awareness. I recognized the logo on the back of his robes and identified him as a member of the Moon's Eye.

Suddenly, my entire being went on full alert. I reached for my weapon instinctively, screwing on the noise suppressor just in case.

The Moon's Eye disciple suddenly turned in my general direction. My mind raced and I readied my gun, but instead of a hostile reaction to my presence, he just vanished into thin air. Good thing I could follow him with my special eyes, that allowed me to trace the life force of my targets (among other things).

I anticipated his appearance right behind me, and whirled around putting my gun to his head right the instant that it appeared. He didn't appear startled; instead, he just applauded in what appeared to be a mocking way. I glared at him; the blatant smirk he donned was ticking me off.

"Good reflexes as always," was what he said. "In fact, I think you got even faster."

His voice vaguely rang a bell in the back of my head. I knew this guy from somewhere, I just couldn't put my finger on the exact time and place. I remained silent and didn't move a millionth of an inch. I just stood there, like a morbid statue, clutching a gun and glaring at the man in front of me. His smirk never left his face; my finger twitched on the trigger. I was eager just to blow a hole in his skull and be done with it. However, the way he spoke of me indicated that he knew too much sensitive information. My curiosity was piqued.

"It appears you have forgotten me already. So sad... Must've been Kakashi's work." He lowered his hood and removed his mask. He was about my age, with messy white hair and oddly colored eyes. He rubbed his temples and gave a tired smile, baring oddly pointed and jagged teeth. My glare intensified.

Mutants.

"Evening, Sasuke."

"Hn. Go to hell," I grunted to his shark teeth smirk and purple eyes as I pulled the trigger.

My bullet didn't meet skin, bone or brain, but passed right through his head. The hole that it left behind before slamming into the brick wall twenty feet behind the man, liquidified and regenerated. I snarled at him and prepared for evasive maneuvers. He didn't move a muscle. He just stood there, smirking and snickering. "Sorry, already there," he retorted.

He inspected me with what appeared as genuine curiosity, tilting his head in several directions more than once. "No recollection at all... Gotta give Kakashi credit. If he does something, he does it good," he concluded with a hand thoughtfully rubbing his chin.

"How much do you know about the Order," I demanded while putting my gun against his head again, before realizing that it was more or less useless. I sighed and lowered my weapon, instead lining the tips of my fingers with flames. This didn't seem to faze the water-man much either, which made sense, but at least it would hit him. That accounted for something.

The white-haired man shrugged. "For one, I'm a member of the Black Rose, if that works for you."

"Impossible," I snarled. "I know everyone in the Order."

Purple clashed with red as he shot a meaningful look in my direction. "Then the name Suigetsu Hozuki should ring a bell."

My arm dropped as the flames faded from my fingers, leaving small lines of smoke to rise up and dissolve.

Suigetsu Hozuki.

A veil was lifted from an undiscovered (or rediscovered) part of my consciousness. The flood gates were opened, sending an avalanche of sealed memories crashing into my brain. This guy was named Suigetsu. He was an Elemental, with the power to control bodies of water and liquidify his own at will. We had been roommates, once; the times that we were both young recruits with a pretty much clean slate and high hopes for the future suddenly came crashing back to me. He was quite the prankster back in those days, and even though I had been the stronger one, he had the most satisfaction in pestering me.

Suigetsu, Naruto, Kiba and I initially took part in a prestigious experiment of Jiraiya's, a plan to form a team that mastered the four elements. Naruto's insane speed, vicious attacks and magic represented the wind. Kiba's feral fighting style and werewolf traits stood for the earth. I was supposed to be fire, even though I had just learned to master it by that time. Suigetsu already embodied water to begin with (literally, being an Elemental), so he was the part that completed the set. The missing piece of the puzzle

I recalled Suigetsu being called away by none other than Jiraiya himself in the final stages of said team's formation, and how he proudly told me that he was hand-picked for a highly classified op later that day. He couldn't go into detail about it; the only thing that he did tell was that it was a long-term operation he was appointed. I never recalled him actually leaving though, strengthening my suspicion that Kakashi had had a major play in the convenient loss of collective memory.

I looked at the smirking man in front of me and returned the smirk. He opened his arms and hugged me, snickering in his trademark way.

"Long time no see, buddy."

"Amen," I sighed. "Sorry I shot you just now, by the way," I apologized remembering how a regular bullet wouldn't exactly kill Suigetsu, but would still hurt him like being shot with a paintball rifle. I had no idea how that worked, but those had been his words when Naruto had accidentally pulled the trigger on him a couple of years ago. Thus, I made a mental note to have a look in the archives and learn more about the nerve system of Elementals. Suigetsu, meanwhile, shrugged at my apology. I was unable to read his expression well enough to find out if he had purposefully ignored the thin layer of genuine regret that had laced my voice.

"Forget about it. In any other case, you would've done what was right." He rubbed his temples. "Kakashi probably sent you to pick up some contracts, right?" I nodded sharply. He snorted. "Well, that was bullshit. You're here to take this intel on Moon's Eye, and preferrably me as well, back to HQ."

Suigetsu gave me a memory chip and told me to guard it with my life. I took it and safely tucked it away in the inside pocket of my leather jacket, understanding the Elemental's intentions to minimize the chances of losing this intel. Thus, I wasn't surprised when he handed me a CD as well. Losing either would still provide us with the other. It's one of the oldest, but still most effective tricks to pull your enemy into a trap.

From the corner of my eye, I saw something glimpse in the moonlight. Without moving my head, I looked at Suigetsu, reading in his eyes that he, too, knew that we were being watched.

_"Let me handle this one. Pretend as if we don't have a clue."_

The mental note came as a habit, not really intending to probe Suigetsu's mind. The Elemental nodded, however, though barely visible. I put my gun away and shook Suigetsu's hand, to keep up the illusion that we didn't know someone was watching us. The next moment, I had rushed to our stalker's location and put a knife to his throat. I smirked as I saw the utter desperation pour out of his eyes, mainly because he had no idea who he was dealing with. He started to whimper pleas and apologies when I put a little pressure on the knife, drawing thin lines of blood in certain places. Part of being an assassin was the feeling of control we had over life and death, and I had to admit that I liked that part.

"I have a wife and a kid!" the man lied, in an ultimate attempt to try and pierce the shells of cold-hearted assassins that both Suigetsu and I wore like suits of armor. Too bad that it was 1) a terribly performed act and 2) an act in the first place that the floundering enemy was pulling.

My cruel smirk intensified on my face as I leaned closer to his face. "Tough luck today, pal. I'll make sure they'll receive your head for on the mantelpiece."

With a quick, efficient slash, I slit the throat of the spy, slashing open several vital veins and instantly killing him. I wiped my knife clean on the clothes of my victim and ID'ed him as Moon's Eye, while Suigetsu came over and checked him for any wires upon my unspoken command. He found nothing, allowing us to rest assured that he wasn't found out. Still, it seemed like a better idea to make haste to our destination.

"We better split up, before another stray agent sees us," I heard him mutter. I nodded, refraining from using words to communicate. "Race ya there," he added with a smirk, fully knowing that I stood no chance of ever beating the speed of his transportation abilities.

I ignored the terrible joke and turned around, about to set off. "Take care."

Suigetsu did his vanishing act again, which I now remembered to be called Elemental Afterimage (a magical ability for Elementals that temporarily allowed their physical body to blend with the forces of nature and solidifying instantly at the desired location), while I used my own agility and athletic ability to make my way to the rooftops and swiftly dash off into the night. There was a lot of catching up to do, and I had a few new tricks up my sleeve to impress the white-haired oaf with. Traditions are meant to be honored, after all.

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

It's possible for enemies to become friends. Special thanks to gaaras1girl who gave me some valuable pointers to improve my writing. Let me know what you think.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

_"A man of honor would rather choose to die on his feet, than to live on his knees."_

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><p>Suigetsu was awarded with a promotion for his exceptional performance on this difficult task, and thus Kakashi removed the mental barricade that blocked all memories of Suigetsu from the rest of the Order's members. In reaction to complaints (mostly from Naruto's part), Kakashi had stated that it was a necessary safety precaution for Suigetsu to succeed in his mission. Intel department was still processing all the data their Elemental recruit had brought in, but from Suigetsu himself we already learned the location of a few major drop points for their contracts and their ways of stealing ours.<p>

Come to think of it.

It was quite the question why people sought their services so much, as a lot of the assassination orders in the bizz were much more discreet and less notorious for their methods. The only thing they had going for them was a low price and many members. Upon being asked about the cost of our services, Itachi always said that top quality came with a higher price to pay. And top quality was one thing that's for certain when hiring the Black Rose.

It's almost as if Moon's Eye had fun in killing witnesses, I thought wryly, knowing the deep, hidden killing pleasure people like Naruto got when they got carried away. But at least he had a good excuse, with a demon possessing his body and all. And then again, how many times had I caught myself experiencing joy in being in control of my victims' fates?

It took a lot of self-conscience and discipline to become an assassin. To be able to acknowledge the fact that you kill for money, and the guts to admit it to people's faces with a head held high. No one should have the right to call themselves assassins, though, without any proper training. This is where the discipline part came in. At a young age, kids were given access to firearms, lethal gadgets, and magic. To resist the need to 'show off' took a lot of willpower, especially for a fourteen-year-old. A calm and collected mind along with a perfect execution of skill were the only remedy against failure.

The first kill a person makes comes with an immense price in the form of remorse and self-loathing. It takes a lot to be able to resist giving in to the darkness and remaining conscious of your actions. Inevitably, this first kill also awakens something much, much more terrifying than any of the aforementioned dark emotions. That was bloodlust. A buried desire for a second victim. The yearning for possession, for having someone's life in the palms of your very hands. Again, this carried great risk, for I have seen many that turned their lust into obsession. Eventually, they were hunted down and killed themselves, because of their own inability to control the desire to kill. Their inability to stay human, so to speak.

They would become Ghouls; soulless, wretched organisms that draw their life force by taking it from their victims. Even though once human, every function to interact with other humans was gradually shut down in favor of the basic instinct of survival. In response to repeated appearances of Ghouls and the loss of many innocent lives, Ghoul Hunters swarmed like the plague. Whether your motive was to avenge a loved one lost to these vile creatures, to prevent more innocent death to spread or simply make money from it, if you carried a gun and knew how to shoot it, you had a possible future as a Ghoul Hunter in your grasp.

Of course, there were times when fate was on such bad terms with one, no amount of training could nullify that. The only time that ever happened to me was when a good friend of mine got taken hostage by a bunch of criminals that randomly showed up during one of my hits. How and why that friend had been invited to a corrupt officer's banquet was a mystery I had sworn to solve, but have had no luck with so far. That friend hadn't known about my work as an assassin, and refused to talk to me even after saving his life ever since.

Two weeks later rumors spread that Kabuto Yakushi had joined the Disciples of the Moon's Eye. Needless to say that I have never felt so betrayed in my life.

I sipped from my beer as I watched Shikamaru Nara and his father Shikaku from Intel scan millions of lines, codes, numbers and letters in search for everything useful. Shikaku and Shikamaru were tactical, strategical, numerical and financial geniuses. With their ability to control movement by linking shadows in combat (rightfully earning them their titles of Shadowmasters) and their brilliant minds both on and off the battlefield, the Nara duo made an invaluable asset to the Order of the Black Rose.

Kiba joined me in watching the Naras do their work, also carrying a beer with him. He didn't speak, so neither did I. This went on for a few minutes, until Shikamaru suddenly called on our full attention.

"Got work for you fellas, if you're up for it."

I nodded sharply, signaling that I was listening to what the junior Shadowmaster had to say. Said Shadowmaster gave us a set of coordinates, which pinpointed the location of a Moon's Eye outpost. Seeing as how Suigetsu (somehow) got this intel from the personal files of the Moon's Eye leader, he was dead sure this intel was solid. Shikaku sent out his assistant to fetch either Kakashi or Itachi.

Once the latter showed up, Shikaku told him the exact same thing Shikamaru told us, and Itachi in turn informed Kakashi using telepathy. I had done a little research on our telepathic ability once, and found out that only in extreme cases of mental stability, this technique could be used during combat, because it took complete mental focus for it to work. This made it very impractical (not to mention lethally dangerous) to use during combat, because knowing what your opponent is up to is the first step to victory. Itachi himself was the only one to ever have successfully used the technique to its full potential in a combat-like situation, when he and Kakashi were running the training course of our Order.

Itachi closed off his conversation with Kakashi, and thanked the Naras for their efforts as he beckoned me to follow him. I obliged, and strolled after him through our compound, often referred to as 'HQ' by the members of the Order.

Once we arrived at his office, we found Naruto and Kakashi already there. I smirked unintentionally, admiring and respecting my brother's excelling skills even more than I already did. I greeted my partner in crime and Kakashi, who smirked and casually greeted me, respectively.

Meanwhile, Itachi had sat down behind his desk and folded his hands in front of his face. He sternly looked from Naruto - hanging in a chair in the right corner - to Kakashi - posting at the wall right next to the door - to me, casually sitting in a chair in the left corner.

"We have pinpointed the location of a Moon's Eye outpost," Itachi said in his official voice. He then took a map of the city, its surroundings and every small village, settlement and camp known to man from a drawer behind him, and spread it out on his desk. He picked up a marker and drew an X somewhere in the forest, close to the edge of the mountain ring. "This outpost would be a great tactical asset once it is in our hands," he added before looking at Kakashi.

The masked man continued: "That's why Itachi and me agreed on sending you two to secure it." His visible eye shot from Naruto's to my gaze.

I knew that look.

When Kakashi had that look in his eyes, there were lives on the line.

"One question," Naruto butted in while studying his nails. "Our favorite water brain was part of that damn organization for a year. I'm sure he'd know where their headquarters are; I suggest we round up the entire Order and launch a full-on assault on the Moon's Eye."

"We'd get wiped out," Itachi stated boldly. "Even though we highly outrank the Moon's Eye in skill, their troops still far outnumber ours. Too far to compensate with our outstanding skill," he added before Naruto could voice his response. The latter closed his mouth and grumped something inaudible.

"Intel ran some calculations," Kakashi said while digging up some files. "We'd be about fifty members short in our current state. We're a small organisation," he added matter-of-factly.

The Order of the Black Rose was, indeed, a small organisation. The top consisted of three people: Jiraiya, Itachi and Kakashi. Tsunade and Shizune worked double shifts to keep the Meds & Research running with just the two of them. Intel consisted of the Nara duo, and Shikaku's assistant, Konohamaru. Our main hit squad, lastly, was made up of seven (before Suigetsu's return six) people; Naruto, Suigetsu, Kiba, Karin, Anko, a guy named Shino Aburame (a bug expert that worked with poison and long-ranged rifles) and myself. Adds up to a grand total of fifteen members.

The fact that we were still top of the bizz when it came to efficiency was definetely something to be proud of, I thought with a self-satisfied smirk.

Itachi cleared his throat to return the attention of the people in the room to him. "We have sufficient intel on this outpost to expect a big success on this operation," he said folding his hands in front of his face again. "We're all counting on you."

"What do we know about the number of hostiles?" I asked, finding it odd that this vital piece of information was missing in our briefing. Kakashi sighed. Itachi looked away.

"We... don't."

Naruto let out a feral snarl. "Listen, I'm not putting my ass on the line again for some mediocre hit on Moon's Eye."

"We sent out Shino to do some global recon," Kakashi reassured him. "Your operation starts once he returns with an accurate assumption of their numbers."

I crossed my arms. "It better be accurate. I agree with Dobe here. This doesn't sound too convincing if you ask me."

"That's why we're sending in the best we have."

"Don't give me that shitty-ass flattery," Naruto growled. "I want a double paycheck this month."

Itachi and Kakashi looked at each other for a brief moment, obviously using their telepathic communication again. Finally, Kakashi agreed on paying our monthly income for this special op. I smirked and high-fived Naruto.

"Dismissed," Itachi grunted. "Get some training done, rest up, do whatever you do before a mission. Just remember that the entire Black Rose is counting on you."

Both me and Naruto nodded stiffly, realizing the stakes of this secret operation. Should we fail, not only our lives, but Suigetsu's an indirectly, every member of the Order's lives were in danger. Of course, sometimes sacrifices had to be made in times of war, but in this case 'less is more' applied. The less sacrifices your side had to make, the more you would gain from it. True, aside from Jiraiya, Itachi and Kakashi, Naruto and I _were_ the best the Order had to offer. But that didn't mean that we were a foolproof machine of success. Still, too much depended on this operation for us to fail everyone and save our own sorry hides. 'Death before dishonor' was and forever will remain my motto, and right now might be the perfect time to live up to it.

Naruto nudged my shoulder, the sorrow pouring off his expression like a waterfall. "We're done for, aren't we."

I took a long pause before replying. Were we done for? It was a good thing to be confident in your own abilities, but some of the worst mistakes an assassin could make was overestimate himself or underestimate the enemy.

"Confidence, Dobe," I replied eventually, a small smirk creeping up my face. "We may not be able to outclass Kakashi and my brother, but we're certainly worth the extra money our dearest superiors are paying us." I placed a friendly hand on his shoulder, looking deep into his blood red eyes. "Trust me, Naruto. Believe in me, but most importantly, believe in yourself."

Naruto sighed, rolled his eyes and slapped my hand off. "Spare me the pep talk. If I need a shrink, I'll go see Jiraiya." He turned away from me and took a couple of steps before stopping in his tracks and looking at me over his shoulder.

"Just promise me that I won't have to go through using the demon's powers again."

The silence that followed his statement was so painful that it was almost impossible to bear. I looked down, unable to face my friend any longer. I didn't want to lie to him and assure him that the demon wouldn't be gaining another hold on his soul, but I also didn't want to tell him the truth that the demon's powers may very well be our only option of succeeding. The blonde smiled wryly.

"I see." He looked away from me and sighed. "Don't blame yourself, Sasuke. You'd be a fool not to make use of my potential."

"Then I'd rather be a fool than put you through this torture." Naruto froze, building my confidence. "I can't promise you that you won't have to draw on the demon's powers, but I will promise you that I am going to try everything in my might to prevent it from happening."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Sometimes, a night's sleep and another look on things is the best remedy for a writer's block. How I managed to get writer's block only four chapters into the story is beyond me, but it was there alright. I think I'm cured though. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please let me know what you think. Reviews are the air that us authors breathe.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

_"...For a wounded man shall say to his assailant: 'If I live, I will kill you. If I die, you are forgiven.' Such is the rule of honor."_

* * *

><p>I tightly squeezed my left eye shut as my right eye ogled down the barrel of my handgun, aiming between the eyes of the test dummy. My finger snapped at the trigger twice. The sound of gun shots filled the room. I smirked at my achievement. Two bullet holes had appeared on the spots where normally a person's eyes would be; the only way to effectively kill a werewolf without silver bullets. Which was a myth to begin with, since silver would melt the second the hammer hit the slug, but whatever.<p>

Naruto, Suigetsu, Kiba and I had found ourselves practicing at the shooting range, a regular part of our weekly routine (as far as an assassin could speak of such a thing as a 'weekly routine'). There had been few words that had ever had a considerable influence on me, but there was one saying that I'll always remember. It was something that was said during our first firearm training: 'Only an amateur practices until he can get it right; a professional practices until he can't get it wrong.' So here we were, working out every last microscopic kink in our aim, reflexes and efficiency. Itachi once said: "Not the firearm, but the bullet is a lethal weapon. Make sure you use every bullet as such." And so we did.

Kiba shot a dangerous glare in my general direction. He felt threatened every time I practiced werewolf assassination techniques, no matter how close-knit a group we were. I returned a meaningful look to my friend, who in turn snorted and turned back to his own shooting range. His shotgun hollered, and the test dummy was annihilated, much to the amusement of the aforementioned werewolf.

From his restless pacing around and the frequent annoyed snarls, I could tell that he was in need of blood (...Was it nearly full moon already?). Him, and Naruto alike. I frowned, not feeling all that comfortable about this mission we were going on. The odds that Naruto would go beserk were very little, but I didn't like taking chances.

I decided to repress the voice in my head for the time being and focus on my targets. I activated my genetical advantage and swiftly shot my way through the appearing test dummies. As the pace crept up with each passing second, my score indicator showed that I had yet to miss the first shot. Which I never did. With the huge amount of exessive training that we received, we never missed our shots.

Kiba nudged my shoulder, flinging his handgun (A Mark XIX .44 Magnum Desert Eagle) around his finger. "Let's run the Pit again. I need the adrenaline shot to keep me from killing you all."

The Pit was a fully operational live-action training course for two- or three-man teams to run a real-life simulation on any battle situation. Research department had crafted dozens of armed, operational bots, which Intel had hooked up with an AI capable of running five thousand different decisions in a millionth of a second. Every bot was equipped with a standard M16A1 military assault rifle and rubber-tipped (not lethal, but certainly painful) ammunition. This radical decision by Jiraiya was initially fiercely fought by Tsunade in particular, but once the first results showed a drastic improvement in efficiency and casualty decrease, she too was convinced that this was the only way to keep the competitors sharp.

The bots were equipped with pressure-sensitive plating, that featured specific weak points corresponding with human vital signs. Any bullet that hit one of these would instantly shut down its main circuit, scoring points for the contestant. Any hit that would not necessarily be lethal to a human being would shut down a number of lesser circuits, depending on the impact and precision of the shot.

It was more or less the perfect training excercise.

I nodded understandingly, loaded my handgun (a customized GrandPower 9x19mm K100P1, preferrably silenced) with the rubber-tipped ammo, tucked away a few more mags in the pockets of my leather coat and tied my worn, blood- and dirt-stained black canvas Converse hi-tops a little tighter.

Kiba rolled his eyes; he deemed me crazy for choosing such puny old sneakers over combat boots like his. The reason I did prefer my Converses was unclear even to myself, but Shikamaru's explanation that better comfort and flexible material provided more room for fast reflexes seemed very plausible. Plus, they looked stylish, and God forbid I'd ever admit it to anyone's face, but even I wanted to at least look good when killing other people for money. I glared at my comrade and nodded in the direction of the course. His disposition towards my existence visibly increased, as did the aggression that was boiling inside of him.

Naruto and Suigetsu both wished us good luck, knowing deep inside that we didn't really need it. But still.

The sound of rattling metal and hydraulic gauges was heard as Konohamaru opened the gates for us. My body and mind instantly went on full alert mode. I saw every slight movement in the distance, noticed every vibration in the air. It was the familiar sense of danger that my instincts reacted to, and which I had been trained to utilize to the maximum of my capabilities.

I looked over at Kiba, whose eyes had turned wolverine. It didn't exactly surprise me, even though I had never actually seen him in his fully transformed state, but whenever Kiba got excited, focused, angered or ready for battle, his eyes changed. I got used to it fairly quickly. It still made me feel the slightest bit uncomfortable, however, always expecting my friend to go into blind rage and attack anything in his general surrounding (again, blame the instincts). One look in his eyes proved my worst thoughts wrong, as his gaze was calm, clear and collected. He was in full control of his beastly instincts, and he would be for the rest of the course. I nodded understandingly.

A few seconds into the first area, we decided not to take any chances and ducked into cover simultaneously. Out of habit, I tried to think my battle plan into Kiba's head. The Inuzuka prodigy however rubbed his temples and snarled at me. "Stop fucking with my head, Uchiha. Talk to me if you want to communicate."

I apologized and peeked out of my hiding place behind a half-destructed wall. I saw nothing, and gave Kiba a sign to move up and waited for him to give me the all clear sign.

Once the word was called, I followed him further onto the battlefield. Just before I arrived at my destination, or had the chance to find proper cover, I saw the distinctive reflection of light from a sniper scope from the corner of my eye. "Hit the deck!" I roared at Kiba, who jerked his head to me in surprise.

Miliseconds after he complied, a high-caliber rifle was fired. The bullet impacted on the fallen pillar we both hid behind, leaving a perfectly round bullet hole. I cursed, and was angry mainly at myself because I hadn't been able to pin-point the location of the sniper. Kiba repeated my actions with a more feral snarl on his face than before, more out of frustration than anything else. I couldn't help but smirk; if you didn't know the Inuzuka prodigy, one would be seriously frightened by his appearance, behaviour and the eruption of killer instinct that surrounded him like a bubble.

"Since when did we have snipers?" He asked no one in particular. Cautiously trying to look over the edge of our hiding place, he instantly ducked back in once the sniper took his next shot.

"Were you able to find out where the bastard is hiding?" I grunted.

"Negative."

"Aright." I sighed, my brain already in full throttle. Then it hit me. I turned to the werewolf with a confident smirk. "On my mark. I have an idea."

"On your mark _what_?" Kiba bit to me. I cursed, forgetting the fact we didn't have the advantage of non-verbal communication, nor the experience with each other's abilities to be able to read what the other was thinking.

"On my mark, you pop out and instantly duck back in. I'm sure you can pull that off." Kiba nodded, one eyebrow raised as he was unable to follow my logic. Ignoring that fact, I continued. "Good. Then, immediately after the sniper fires, we make a break for the building there, using his reload time to our advantage."

Kiba smirked bare his feral teeth and licked his upper lip with a pointy tongue. "Sounds good, especially for an Uchiha."

"On my mark," I repeated, letting the insult slide. "Three... Two... One... _Now!_"

Kiba followed his order, the sniper did exactly what I had anticipated it to do and we ran for the nearest building. Smirking at my own accomplishments, the fact how closely this resembled a military organisation rose in my head. The Black Rose really _was_ almost a military organisation.

Almost.

We quickly cleared the first few rooms of hostiles, taking out a total of five in a matter of fifteen seconds. We took a break of a few seconds before moving on, reloading our guns (damn Kiba's low ammo capacity, I thought) and clearing our minds to get a rational look at the situation. We were in no real danger, true, but anyone who had ever been hit by a barrage of those rubber-tip bullets would forever remember how much they hurt like real bullets. Sadly, this group included myself.

I was in the middle of reloading when suddenly a sixth bot showed up around the corner, probably to check up on the noise that not-so-subtly gave away our presence. It pointed its gun at me before I had even noticed it was there, but before it could fire or I could roll away, Kiba tackled the bot to the ground and tore it to pieces with a beastly roar.

I blinked.

Getting my ass saved by Naruto was nothing new anymore, but Kiba (or anyone else for that matter) was another story.

I was usually the one keeping them out of trouble, I thought while pulling myself together and stoically thanking my companion. I proceeded to smirk. "Nice. Although Shikamaru's gonna throw a bitch fit if he finds out he's gonna have to put it back together."

He flipped me off with a ferocious glare in his eyes, checked every corner in the hallway and rushed on. I followed suit, not really excited about getting in more awkward situations like that. I really must've been slacking off.

I armed the firing pin of my pistol and waited for Kiba to kick in the next door, which didn't take him long. He swiped the corners of the room and ducked behind a couch for cover when two bots came in spraying bullets all over the place. I held my position in the doorframe, waiting on the right moment to strike, and deliver a lethal blow to the head once the bots stopped firing. My bullet flung from my gun moments after that crucial part, giving me about half a second to get out of cover and aim. It struck a bot dead center in the head, making it collapse on the floor.

Thanks to our growing affinity, Kiba had instinctively taken out the other one with exactly the same amount of bullets at the exact same time. I snorted.

"Looks like you have a better sense for timing than I gave you credit for," I mocked.

"Looks like you have a better sense of humor than I gave you credit for," he retorted snickering. My lips curled into a smirk.

"So what's next?" he asked rhetorically while I made sure the bots were actually down and swept the tiny closet for any ambushers.

"An open field," I replied matter-of-factly. "If we can get to a high vantage point, we can probably pick off a few unlucky bots from the long range before moving on."

"There's stairs here," Kiba yelled from around the corner. "I suspect more resistance on the top floor."

"Why do I hear excitement in your voice, Inuzuka?" I yelled back, smirking wickedly. I just heard him snicker in reply. The adrenaline was definetely kicking in, and it hit pretty good this time. It came with this certain feeling of invincibility and a huge dose of euphoria, as well as another burst of killer instinct. It was really unhealthy and definetely not proffessional, but it all tasted too good to let it slide at all times.

We moved upstairs, taking out the remaining three bots present. I proceeded to piece my own sniper rifle (a CheyTac .408CT Intervention M-200 rifle, silenced) together with Kiba covering me. I chambered a cartridge, placed the bipod in the windowsill and crouched behind it, peeking through the scope.

The first thing I saw was a watch tower with a bot in it. It was holding a Walther WA2000 sniper rifle of unknown caliber, the same one that we were shot at with earlier. Smirking, I drew the crosshair over its head and stabilized, trying to read its movements and if it would walk off after I fired. The smirk lingered when I found out it didn't.

"Say goodnight," I whispered as I pulled the trigger upon breathing out (an old trick for maximum stability). The bullet hit the bot in the head, probably an inch off of where I initially aimed. Over a range of nearly two hundred metres, I was content. An inch was my goal; I didn't settle for anything more than an inch off target. I averaged on .6 inches, though, but still. Time was of the essence here.

I took out two other unsuspecting victims, before we made our way down and through the field. Picking up the pace, Kiba more and more relied on his shotgun instead of the usual pistol. This greatly irked me; I preferred to attract as less attention as possible. Hence the sniper rifle, the suppressors and dark clothing.

In the end, the result didn't surprise me. Kiba got in over his head, barged into some room and was greeted by five bots all firing bursts of rubber rounds at him. Much to his luck, I remained calm, and shot down the bots with both his and my own handgun before dragging his sore being out into the landing zone. Upon arrival there, Kakashi dismissed me with a compliment on my effort, and went on to reprimand Kiba for his irrational actions. In some wicked way, it was justified for this lecture to make my leaving anthem.

Looks like there was a reason Naruto was my first choice as a partner aside from the fact that we were so close-knit. No matter what he'd do, he'd never go crazy to that extent. Painfully remembering the mission we were about to set out on, I really hoped that it would stay that way.

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Sometimes I wonder whether certain matters are my own fault or simply others' ignorance. Trust me, it sucks. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think of the story.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

_"Every perception of truth is, once uncovered, easy to understand. The point is to uncover them."_

* * *

><p>The nightly summer wind brushed the leaves of the trees, allowing them to whisper in a language mere humans couldn't even begin to fathom. As if the earth was speaking to itself, praying words of hope and better times to everyone with the capability to wrap their heads around it. Anyone who would stop listening with their ears and start listening with their very <em>souls<em>, would hear the desperate cry for salvation the earth was silently screaming to itself. This everlasting breath of the earth, along with the nocturnal critters, bugs and otherly night crawlers (both docile and hostile), made up the sounds of the forest that filled our ears. Breathing, pulsing, watching and changing forevermore, Nature never sleeps. Nature is always hunting.

Always trying to survive.

More myths and rumors surrounded this forest than it housed trees; most of which had re-emerged after the apocalypse. Unicorns, Minotaurs, even tribes of Wood Elves; everything was once more possible, and everything was a threat to our Wood Elf rumors were most likely true, as the global nuclear radiation had turned humankind into the most diverse of creatures: vampires, werewolves, Ghouls, succubi, Elementals...

...Demon hosts.

Who knew; perhaps these creatures had always lived outside the imagination of mankind, and the apocalypse just revealed them to the rest of the world (what was left of it anyway). It seemed hard to believe that every single one of those species came from the human imagination in the first place, even though that may be a more personal feeling rather than a collective thought.

I picked my cigarette from my lover lip and exhaled. A ring of smoke escaped my mouth, drifting on the currents of the wind. It neatly stuck together in a perfect circle until I averted my eyes from it. About three feet behind me, carrying a dead deer and picking the hardly prepared meat from its bones, Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Stop using stupid magic tricks and focus, Teme."

A tiny smirk tugged at my lips. Magic hadn't always played such a big part in my set of abilities as it did now, as there were times when I solely relied on my trusted handgun. However, a certain shady contract had gone awry when I was fourteen, leaving me surrounded by approximately twelve vampire rogues. Even now I'm not too sure what exactly happened, but from the stories Suigetsu (my partner on that mission) had told me, I had literally erupted in a vast burst of black flames, leaving nothing but scorched piles of ash of my opponents. Never since had I been able to conjure that Imperial Black Flame again, but it did unleash my potential for fire magic. With a bit of guidance from the expert himself Itachi and a lot of practice, my Scorch magic was born.

"Look who's talking, Mister 'I-can-run-faster-with-my-Aerial-Leap'," I countered. Naruto snickered.

We walked into a small settlement. Few people were out on the streets; it was near midnight, and roaming the streets in itself was dangerous, which probably tripled at night. The best advice was to stay inside, or travel as fast as you could. Rogue vampires were on the hunt, stray werewolves preyed for raw meat and human flesh alike. Naruto grabbed my shoulder and nodded towards a tiny establishment that held a middle between a modern bar and an old western saloon.

I yielded and followed the blonde inside, brushing aside a string of garlic that was supposed to keep vampires out (which was a myth; the only ways to confirm a vampire kill were either burning it to death, or decapitation). Naruto ordered two double shots of vodka while I turned around and leaned on the bar, taking in every detail of the surroundings.

On second thought, it was more of a saloon than a modern bar. Gambling tables were set up in random order, looking old and worn out. A ragged pianola was tucked away in the corner, playing a melancholic march that fit the atmosphere. Everyone seemed on edge. A few shady figures in the opposite corner of the bar glared at us from underneath their hats. Naruto returned the glare, along with a slightly demonic snarl. I placed my hand on his shoulder and sternly looked him in the eye, as if to tell him to let it rest. He sighed and ordered another vodka.

I kept my eye on the shady bunch while Naruto made small talk with the old grumpy bartender. They were muttering incomprehendible words to each other. I suspected it to be a Lupiini (the language all werewolves spoke) dialect. I elbowed Naruto.

"Dobe. Code 'Earth's Gift'."

Naruto nodded sharply. 'Earth's Gift' was our code for high suspicion of inbound werewolves. 'Funeral Song' meant the same for vampires, 'Miss Murder' for succubi, 'Thunderstruck' for Elementals, 'Afterlife' for Ghouls and 'Black Sabbath' for all kinds of demons. Zombies, husks, mutated animals and similar hostile freaks of nature didn't need code words; they weren't capable of understanding our speech anyway, so there's no point hiding it.

Naruto, getting fed up with the hostile stares he felt digging in his back, grabbed his vodka and sat down at the werewolves' table. He spoke a decent word of Lupiini; he was the only one in the Order (aside from Kiba, obviously) capable of speaking it. I didn't, however. The only Lupiini I knew was 'mahne viruun', which meant as much as 'go fuck yourself'. Not the smartest thing to say in a conversation that could still go both ways.

Naturo talked (read: snarled back and forth) with the werewolves for a minute, before turning to me. "These guys are from the Okamiden tribe. They're allies of the Inuzuka." I relaxed, but still kept my eye on them.

"Kihtus," Naruto said to the Okamiden werewolves (which meant 'thank you' if I remember correctly). They nodded approvingly and turned to me expectantly. I repeated Naruto's sentence, immediately apologizing for my inability to speak their language. One of them smirked a feral grin.

"Not worry, assassin. Good hunting."

Naruto bumped my shoulder. "Let's go, Teme."

Interrogating my blonde friend on what he had discussed with the werewolves, I learned that they had lost a brother to the Moon's Eye and were hell bent on revenge. Naruto had been smart enough not to tell them of our pact with the Inuzuka right away (thank _God_), and gradually earned their trust for having a common enemy. Being excellent scouts, they had given him some useful information on our target (though nothing too much into detail; my assumption that 'trustworthy' was as meaningless as 'radiation-free' in these parts turned out correct).

We strolled across the street to the 24-7 market that sold food, drugs, weapons, ammunition, booze and other supplies travellers and citizens need on a daily basis. An ice Elemental (we could tell from the water bottles freezing solid the moment he touched them) eyed us from his spot at the counter. I nodded slightly, clenching fist in the pocket of my black leather coat. Naruto, meanwhile, loaded up on instant ramen and sleep stimulants. I averted my eyes of the blonde.

It was that time of the month again.

What full moon was to werewolves, that's what new moon was to Naruto. The moonlight kept his curse in check, but a lack thereof would set it on a rampage. Naruto himself was strong-willed enough to keep it from breaking loose, but he needed the sleep stimulants to be able to fall asleep without nightmares for at least a short period of time.

I grabbed a snack and a guns magazine and walked to the cashier, grabbing my wallet from my pocket. The cashier (a kid that looked sort of like Shikamaru, but younger and... dumber), apparently caught a glimpse of my gun holster, and looked at me with terrified eyes. I didn't say anything, put my money down on the counter and walked to the door, waiting for Naruto to do the same. I walked out with my friend following suit, leaving a flabbergasted and stunned cashier.

We leisurely strolled to the inn, where I handed Naruto an unknown amount of dollar bills to hire us two rooms for the night. The girl in the lobby eyed me a bit too possessively for my tastes; I glared her off and ignored her hiss when we passed her desk and made our way up. Then a yell echoed throughout the entire building.

Actually, it was more of a deathly screech.

Not wasting any time, Naruto and I looked at each other and simultaneously drew our weapons. Taking cover on opposite sides of the staircase, I slipped a few thoughts into my partner's mind. He complied and (literally) jumped down, getting a split-second view of the situation before ducking into cover.

I couldn't see a thing yet, but the fact that shots were fired said enough for me.

I followed Naruto's lead and jumped down, rolling sideways into cover behind the possessive girl's desk. She was nowhere to be found; instead, a gang of about five vampiric figures filled the small lobby. The next thing I spotted was the girl. She was lying on her side, facing away from me, a sanguine fluid we all knew too well oozing out of her neck. Two of the vampires were keeping an elderly man and woman with a small child under their guns. The child's muffled crying was nearly inaudible over the maniacal cackling of said vampires. A shotgun lay scattered in the middle of the room.

_"Raiders,"_ I mentally said to Naruto. He nodded.

In that split second of telepathic interaction, the apparent leader pointed his unnecessarily big gun in Naruto's direction and firing. Judging from the blast and impact, it was an unusually high caliber. That would explain the size of the gun; I suspected a Smith & Wesson .50cal Model 500. There wasn't much time to think about it, though, as he kept sparying bullets all over the plaace.

"Do something!" Naruto roared at me while desperately trying to keep his head down. I instantly popped out of cover and fired. Even if it was nothing more than a mere distraction.

The vampire raiders, still vulnerable to regular ammo, though unable to die because of it, ran for cover. The elderly couple and the child took the opportunity to make a break for it. I mentally cursed them; they were living target practice like that.

Turned out that was exactly what the vampires wanted.

My heart skipped a couple of beats when I saw the gang leader pop out of his hiding spot, pointing his (still pretty fucking huge) gun at the fleeing family with a maniacal, sadistical, _evil_ glint in his golden eyes. "Dobe!" I yelled, but he was already one step ahead of me.

Naruto used his magic ability, Aerial Leap (allowing him to literally run fast like the wind), to rush for the shotgun in the middle of the room. He skidded to a halt and tossed it to me before the vampires even knew he was out of cover. The leader staggered back, keeping him from shooting at the aforementioned family. I then received an unvoluntarily, but very convenient look in my partner's head.

I smirked.

With a little display of my own magic skill, I set afire the only shell that was left in the shotgun by fuelling the heat from my hand through the iron of the gun into the shell. I then swiftly aimed and pulled the trigger.

The result was as I had anticipated: the steel pellets were set ablaze upon leaving the barrel of the gun. Four of five vampires were hit by the scatter shot, although the majority of the damage was dealt to the leader. The fire caught on to their scraps of fabric (that were supposed to go for clothing), spreading rapidly over their bodies. With a morbid hiss, the skin of the raiders started to melt as the demon-spawn themselves screeched like bats and frantically tried to find a way to avert a certain death.

I turned my blood-red eyes to the family, startling the kid into crying again. I tossed aside the shotgun and covered his eyes while the four vampires burned down and Naruto disposed of the fifth one. Only after I heard the awfully familiar tearing of skin, muscle and vein and the snapping of bone, I took away my hand.

"T-thank - Thank you... You are v-v-very h-honorable men..." the old man stammered, his already weak voice dying out when he saw the lifeless and bloodied body Naruto dragged out the door by the hair. I snorted. Noble, my ass. We killed people for profit.

"I highly doubt that," I replied truthfully. "We just strive after a noble goal, justifying any means."

The man was at a loss for words, and I turned my back on him to check up on the girl. I knelt down to her unconscious body and placed my index and middle finger on her neck vein. She was still alive; though her pulse was extremely weak, and she lost a lot of blood. I turned her around and laid her on her back on the floor. Blood flowers stained her dress in the places where bullets had forced their way into her flesh. I sighed, defeated. There was little hope she was going to make it.

Naruto kneeled down next to the girl, also checking her vitals. I could see the shock in his eyes when he reached the same conclusion as I did. He pulled out his knife and was about to remove the bullets from her body, when I placed my hand on his arm and mournfully shook my head.

Naruto snarled and looked down in sorrowful rage. I knew he could hear her heart beating its last few pulses before embarking into an eternity of silence."She was innocent," he growled through his teeth before getting up with a loud roar and throwing his knife at - and through - the wall across the room in blind anger. "How many more victims must humankind make before they finally learn from their mistakes?"

"We're all waiting for that day that never comes," I said melancholy, turning my gaze to the ceiling and drifting off to come to a sad conclusion. "But I doubt we'll ever see the sunlight of that day."

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><p>[Author's Note]<p>

I've been getting a lot of questions about this, so I will state this now: Sakura will be introduced in the next chapter. I hope that works for all of you who asked (you know who you are). As always, I hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you think.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

_"One in search of truth should start his quest by searching the lips of a dying man."_

* * *

><p>The fine brush scraped against cold metal, ridding it of any gunpowder stains, however tiny. I pulled the rag from the barrel of my gun, blowing it out and putting it in my pocket. After checking the safety lock that would keep the gun from blowing my brains out while I was cleaning it, I wiped a soft, dirty cloth along the frame. In a way, it felt like cleansing my soul of the sins I had committed. Just wipe them off with a cloth, like wiping stains off a gun.<p>

Naruto was already asleep; that is, as far as his nightmares didn't keep him awake. I could hear him tossing and turning from the adjoined room, pitying his cursed fate. It was hard enough living on this forsaken planet in itself, let alone with a demon sealed within your soul.

I tossed the dirt-stained cloth on my night table and put my gun under my pillow. I made it a habit to sleep with my hand on my gun when spending the night somewhere else than our compound. Necessary safety precaution, I called it, and it was. At least in these dark days, I thought cynically before drifting off into a deep, dreamless slumber.

I woke up early the next morning, another one of those instinctive habits humanity developed (or redeveloped) after only a few years of living in a world that is _not_ safe anymore. Not that it ever was, but the point that this planet had literally turned into hell on earth was made clear once more. I splashed the remains of sleep out of my face with ice-cold water, rubbing the short night out of my eyes. After drying my face with a shabby towel, I swiftly threw on my black shirt (it was my favorite Slayer t-shirt, too) and ditto skinny jeans, tied the laces of my smudgy sneakers and buckled up my shoulder holster, locking my precious gun in its trusted place. Lastly, I swung my leather coat over my shoulder and picked up the suitcase that held my sniper rifle. I still needed to find something that made it easier to carry that big gun around, but so far my quest had shown no results.

Even before the door fell into the lock behind me, Naruto already greeted me with cold red eyes and a low grunt. We crossed the street, ignored the dead vampire that we left there last night, and walked into the saloon. I ordered two coffee and greeted one of the werewolves from whom we acquired some valuable intel earlier. The bartender didn't say a word and carelessly set down two cups of black, liquid gold in front of us, earning him a growl on Naruto's part and a glare from yours truly.

We didn't eat; simply because the food you didn't prepare yourself was a hazard to your efficiency (and health for that matter). The only things that were foolproof were coffee and alcoholic drinks: the former for the fact that radiated caffeine somehow neutralized pretty much any poison in the world, and the latter simply because you didn't fuck with someone's booze. It was the only honor code the world had left. And yes, that _is_ very sad, thank you, I mused to myself.

The doors creaked again, along with the sound of dull footsteps on the worn wooden floor. A young female walked over to the bar and ordered the same thing as we did. She ignored us completely.

She looked fast and nimble; she was short, skinny and well-conditioned. From the corner of her emerald eyes, she kept an eye out for us and anything we did. I instantly felt Naruto's eyes digging into my skin.

_"Code 'Miss Murder'?"_

I shook my head and watched her carefully.

The next thing I saw was the barrel of a pistol (a SIG .357 P239 in exceptionally good condition, confirming my suspicions she was an assassin) pointing at my forehead. Naruto instantly reacted by pulling his gun out and mimicking her move. Her glare shot from me to my blonde friend and back to me, swift and determined. I had to admit that I respected the fire in her eyes, that I knew to represent the motivation she had to be good at what she did.

"What do you want from me, and speak quickly."

"Oh, nothing," Naruto sarcastically remarked. "You just happen to be dangerously close to dying."

"Answer me!" She made the mistake of shifting her target from me to Naruto, allowing me to pull out my pistol as well. I smirked; she still had a lot to learn, though. From the corner of my eye, I saw the werewolf frozen in his chair and the bartender sticking to the wall so hard, that it looked like he wanted to blend in with it.

"Excuse me, but you're not really in a position to call shots," I sneered, venom lacing my voice.

If looks could kill, I would be six feet in the ground right now.

She holstered her gun, and in response, so did Naruto. I didn't move a muscle; not until I knew for sure that this encounter wasn't going to end in another shoot-out. One thing was for sure though. She was clearly a fellow assassin.

"Who do you work for," Naruto growled at the girl. She sighed in defeat and pulled down the right side of her imitation leather jacket, uncovering her right shoulder. Her navy blue off shoulder top strapped across her left shoulder revealed a tattoo of a fallen angel underneath a black fishnet shirt.

"I work for Angel Witch. My name is Sakura Haruno."

Angel Witch was a small assassin's bureau, even smaller than the Black Rose, that gained underground fame for a big hit on an Egyptian dictator a few years ago. They had been able to snatch that contract right under Itachi's nose; since then, we've had some superficial business contacts with the bureau. I never expected to actually encounter one of their recruits, though.

I lowered my gun at last, while Naruto pulled up his sleeve and showed her our brand, a tattoo of a bleeding, withering rose. "Then we have no reason to be fighting," he said. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and this is my partner, Sasuke Uchiha. We're from the Order of the Black Rose."

She gasped and looked to me, eyes wide. "You're the one Kurenai is doing business with?"

"That would be my brother," I replied stoically and without missing a beat. Mistake number two: she mentioned a name of a superior to a rival creed. Naïve and foolish, because anyone with the wrong intentions could exploit this fact to deal some severe damage to your bureau.

"I see..." She sighed. "What does the Black Rose want around these parts? Spanning territory?"

"Hn." I beckoned her and Naruto to follow me into a back room. The bartender opened his mouth to protest, but was silenced by one short guttural growl, courtesy of Naruto. It appeared the former hadn't forgotten about the gun the latter just pulled (A Heckler & Koch .45 USP Elite), as he stammered something and let us pass without any hesitation.

Once the door fell into the lock, I gestured the girl named Sakura to make herself comfortable and telepathically ordered Naruto to guard the door after he swept the room for any leaks or wires. I sat down opposite from Sakura.

"We have some business to settle with the Disciples of the Moon's Eye. We've acquired some intel that they have an outpost nearby; we want it."

"Truth is, I know," Sakura said, her tone suddenly dead serious. I blinked in surprise; she _knew_? She stood up and paced across the room.

Regaining my ability to speak, I snarled "Excuse me?"

She sighed. "That's why I mentioned Kurenai and expanding territory. I know what you're here for."

"...I'm listening."

"Some time ago, a guy named Uchiha, who appears to be your brother, contacted my boss, Kurenai. He informed her on your mission - Strictly on a need-to-know basis," she added when I angrily stood up and was about to pull my gun again. I sighed in relief, calming myself down with a little help on Naruto's part. I nodded at her to continue.

"So anyway, Kurenai sent me on a special op to help out a few allied assassins. I'd know who I was looking for when I saw them; she was right."

"We don't need no fucking help," Naruto snarled. "I can't believe Itachi's underestimating us like that."

"I bet he isn't," I stated darkly. "I think the reason she's here is because something urgent must've happened after we left. I have a bad feeling about this."

Sakura nodded. "I was given a message to pass on to you: 'Codename Four-Eyes is at your target location'."

Naruto grunted. I cursed under my breath.

Kabuto Yakushi.

Her question sounded distant as I fell back into the memories again, hence I didn't answer it. Naruto snapped me out of it by infiltrating my mind with a loud mental burst. Sakura repeated her question.

"Who is Four-Eyes?"

"A f-" I paused. What exactly was he? A friend that fell into darkness?

No.

"...A traitor. A backstabbing, swindling, slithering traitor."

"Friendly fellow, that friend of yours," Sakura said to Naruto in an attempt at easing the atmosphere. He smirked in reply.

"Tell me about it."

I turned to the two snickering assassins I had the displeasure of calling my comrades on this particular operation, glared them both into oblivion and arranged a quick tactical assembly to adjust our battle plan. Or, as Naruto always referred to it: our 'GP', our game plan. It had grown on the majority of the Order (read: only the top of the organisation still called it by the official name).

A few minutes and a quick summary on Sakura's abilities (she was a short- to mid-range combatant with a lesser affinity to a magic called Fracture, but above all was a skilled field medic) later, our newly forged three-man team set out on the first joint operation in the history of the Black Rose.

Sakura almost instantly warmed up to us, but like any assassin that knew what (s)he was doing, didn't give out any sensitive information about herself or the organisation she worked for. The negotiations of a more permanent alliance were still in a very early stage of development after all, and in case anything happened, neither would be too happy to be at a disadvantage, to say the least.

This line of business took the saying 'it's either kill or be killed' to a whole new level.

We learned that Sakura was nineteen; she had bubble gum pink hair (and claimed that it was all natural, which I found fairly hard to believe), emerald eyes and a larger-than-average sized forehead. It didn't make her any less attractive though. She was actually one of the best-looking females I'd laid eyes on in a while, and judging from the looks Naruto gave her, he agreed with me completely.

On first sight, she looked like an emo, a punk, a skater and a metalhead thrown in a blender along with female genes. Smokey-effect eyeshadow was applied to her upper eyelids, a thin line of black eyeliner to the lower. Her clothing she had pieced together from several subcultures, creating her own. Her trashed Vans Eras crushed an unlucky bug that crossed the unpaved road at the wrong time. She was telling Naruto of a shootout gone wrong in living color, pointing a hand tucked away in a fingerless glove at a bullet hole gracing her black-gray skinny jeans to prove it.

"What happened to your other glove?" Naruto asked, realizing she only wore a glove on her right hand. She giggled.

"Nothing. This is just a style statement," she explained with a sweet smile that balanced on the verge of perfection. Naruto turned to me and diverted his gaze to my own fingerless gloves. I glared at him.

"Forget it, Dobe."

He returned the glare, and without even knowing or intending to I strapped my gloves a little tighter. No one touched my style.

A few hundred yards from our destination, it appeared that some sort of switch in our minds was turned simultaneously, as Naruto and Sakura stopped joking around and focused on every slight movement that was heard in the air or seen in the distance.

I looked up at the sky, and cursed our terrible timing; from a tactical point of view, noon wasn't exactly the best time to land a surprise attack. I connected my mind to Naruto's and Sakura's at the same time, which I knew would result in a headache later on.

_"Let's head back and wait for the night."_

Naruto grunted in agreement, being used to me infiltrating his mind at any given time. Sakura, though, yelped and turned to me with a shocked, bewildered look on her face. I just raised one eyebrow, as if to ask her what she had to say.

"How did you _do_ that?" She hissed to me.

"Should've told you," I replied shrugging, unable to hide a small self-satisfied smirk by now. "I am capable of communicating through telepathy. My bad."

"But - _how_?"

"Mutated genes," Naruto answered in my place. He shot a sportive glare in my direction. "Sasuke's just as much a freak of nature as the rest of the Black Rose, unlike his appearance might suggest."

"What's your abnormality?" Sakura interrogated. Naruto growled in response, half-amused and half-irritated. He smirked sadly, a gesture I copied instantly.

"Nothing, really. Just a demon inhabiting my soul and slowly driving me insane."

Horror struck Sakura.

"...E-excuse me?"

"You heard me," Naruto said darkly. "You're on a mission with a demon host and a mutated assassin. Welcome to our lives."

Sakura stammered some unintelligible half-sentences, and finally settled on cocking her head back and taking deep breaths of fresh forest air to calm herself down. Her face revealed that there were millions of questions rampaging through her head. She opened her mouth to ask one, but I cut her off.

"No, there's no risk of the demon breaking free. He's got it under control, and yes, he's tapping from its powers in certain situations. But only when there's no other way. Dark energy tends to consume your ability to feel happiness," I added cynically.

She closed her mouth again, being provided the answers she wanted and still somewhat in awe of this sudden revelation. Of course, she was a professional and she knew how to deal with situations in which others might have simply pulled the trigger on themselves, but demon hosts were a rarity. At least, demon hosts of Naruto's age. Most of them didn't even make their second day of life, getting killed by their parents, the doctors or anyone else upon learning their terrible secret.

Day turned into dusk without us ever leaving our hideout, taking notes of everything unusual that might compromise the success of our mission. Ultimately, we agreed on falling back some more and setting up camp. We took turns scouting the surroundings, leaving the other two to keep watch and take care of the food issue. Sakura was kind of new to working in a team, but so far, she held her own bravely. This made me feel better about our mission, which kept crawling closer without mercy with every passing second.

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

As promised, here you are. The fated meeting with miss Sakura Haruno. I sincerely hope it lives up to the high expectations my dear readers may have. As always, I ask you guys not to be rude and leave a review, so that I know that my work is appreciated.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	8. Author's Note

**.**

**[AUTHOR'S NOTE]**

Due to lack of response from my audience, I have lost interest in continuing _"Black Roses and Angel Witches"._ Thus, I am putting the story on hiatus to focus on other stories, until I am able to put myself to work again without having to feel like I'm wasting time, energy and creativity.

My sincere apologies go to the few that did express their support.

Signed,

_VictimofYourOwnCreation_

**.**


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

_"He who is afraid of the night, remember that there is but fear itself to fear."_

* * *

><p>With day turning into night, we packed up camp again and moved closer to our destination hastily, though remaining silent at all times. While scouting the surroundings, we learned that we weren't the only ones doing so; Naruto had run into a patrol of Moon's Eye recruits. Keeping our eyes open, we maneuvered around their (easily distinguishable) patrol routes and closer to our target. On three hundred yards, I finally revealed to Sakura what was in my suitcase as she was dying to find out.<p>

I swiftly pieced my sniper rifle together and hit the deck, crawling behind some bushes for maximum cover. Naruto and Sakura covered my back.

The outpost consisted of a base located at the foot of, and probably partly inside, a big mountain. Outside of the main building stood a large hangar that served as provisions storage. Across from the hangar, three barracks were located; we knew that they weren't all filled to the brink, but the mere thought of facing that many hostiles was at least intimidating. A watch tower was positioned in the corner nearest to us, making its inhabitant a perfect target for a skilled sniper (in this case referring to me).

I chambered the cartridge, checked the settings of the gun for a last time and proceeded to take my sweet time aiming for the perfect shot at the guard, that had moved out of sight.

Once I was positive that it was just that single guard camping up in that tower, I squeezed my left eye shut and took slow, deep breaths. My finger itched to hit the trigger. Upon breathing out, I did take the shot, hitting the poor soul directly in the face before he even knew he was under fire. I had no time for remorse, though; while Naruto rushed forward using his magic, I immediately scanned the rest of the base for any so-called 'air sirens', people that saw the hit take place and hit the big red button that said 'emergency use only'.

Due to the silencer on my rifle and the coincidentally fortunate timing, no one found out about their tower watch dying. Naruto, meanwhile, was hiding behind one of the barracks, staying out of sight of two casually conversating members of the Moon's Eye. I aimed carefully, and signaled Naruto using a mental beacon that spread farther than the regular range of our telepathic ability.

It was a trick I had to work on; I strained my mind a little too much, and dragged Sakura from her concentration as well, even if she wasn't my real target.

While Naruto used his Aerial Leap again to rush one of the guards, I sent a bullet on a one-way trip to the other man's head. It struck him right above the ear, in the temple, blowing a big hole in his skull. Even from this distance, I could just _hear _Naruto roll his eyes, probably because I was always the one against unnecessary blood and gore. I smirked and apologized to Sakura for the mental strain.

"Don't mention it," she hissed back while focussing on our surroundings again, having switched to a customized Heckler & Koch 9mm MP5SD3 with laser dot targeter ('RDS'), for greater firepower. I nodded and turned back to my scope.

Once I saw that Naruto had cleared the perimeter, I packed up my rifle again and buried the suitcase, not really keen on having to drag it along while firefighting. I notified Sakura that now was our chance to rush forward. As said, as done, and we met up with Naruto who had concealed himself behind some large crates.

"Seriously," I grunted. "Where does the part of launching an all-out assault come into being a hired stealth killer, again?"

Naruto and Sakura smirked. "Looks like he does have a sense of humor, after all," she said to the blonde, who in turn snickered. I glared at the both of them while I whipped out my pistol, checking the magazine and arming the firing mechanism.

"Shall we?"

Both my comrades turned serious almost instantly and nodded in unison.

"Alright. I want as little casualties as possible. Don't shoot at people that are unarmed, unless absolutely necessary."

"Fuck that, this is war," Naruto snarled. I sighed in response.

"This is a feud between two assassination bureaus."

"What about Four-Eyes?"

I fell silent.

A maelstrom of memories and thoughts, one more irrational than the other, raved through my head. Kill, capture, convince, condemn?

...

Forgive?

I shook my head and looked up.

Crimson clashed with ruby and emerald.

"...Shoot on sight."

I saw the pain in my eyes reflect in Naruto's. He, too, had trusted Kabuto; in the end, the backstabbing son-of-a-bitch had been out for personal gain all along. There were scores to be settled, but this was far more than a simple grudge match. Lives were at stake here.

"Excuse me, but how will I be able to ID this Four-Eyes fellow?" Sakura asked, annoyance seeping through her intonation. I opened my mouth, but Naruto beat me to it.

"Big round glasses, gray hair in a low ponytail, long coat, snake-ish eyes," he growled. "Can't miss him."

Sakura nodded. I wondered if she would allow one of us to put a bullet in his skull; it looked like she was fighting with the idea as well. I finally decided against asking her or probing her mind to find out. The mental strain would be a bit too much (courtesy of the beacon technique I used earlier). I had a battle to fight after all, and the last thing I needed was a migraine breaking me up in the midst of a bullet storm.

We discreetly made our way in, disposing of anyone that visibly carried a gun around whether they saw us or not. It was similar to taking out security on a regular contract, I thought while snapping some unlucky patrol guard's neck. The numerous hallways were next to impossible to navigate through, though. If it wasn't for Naruto's heightened senses, my ability to see the life force of living creatures and the occasional brute force of Sakura's magic. Still, there was no end to the maze of concrete and doors, and it was putting us all slightly on edge.

On an intersection, we decided to split up. There was little resistance on the path I had chosen, and in some sick way, it somewhat disappointed me. The adrenaline had kicked in, and I was yearning for some action. I neutralized two guards in less than a second, using a few ancient, extremely lethal ninja techniques that I specialized in.

I ran back into a corridor, and saw Naruto crawl over the ceiling (another feat of his Aerial Leap magic) in the direction of another guard, while Sakura came skidding around a corner, running into me. In a reflex, I swung my arms around her waist and twirled her around, nullifying the force she had and shielding her from any harm.

Gun shots were heard from the hallway she had just come out of.

The guy Naruto was about to kill turned around and spotted me and Sakura. He reached for his weapon, but didn't get to touch the iron before dying from a broken windpipe and suffocating. I looked at Sakura to see how she was reacting to seeing a man dying slowly and painfully in front of her eyes, instead of an instant kill from a bullet.

...And then I realized I still had my arms around her waist.

I promptly let her go, looking away to hide the faint blush I felt burning on my cheeks. She turned redder as well, before we were snapped back to reality by a bullet impacting on the wall behind us a few inces from my head. I caught a blurry mental note from Naruto regarding Sakura, but he, too, pulled out his gun and searched for cover that provided a good view on the enemy's location.

"Sasuke! Cover me!" Sakura yelled from her barely existing cover. She in particular drew a lot of fire because of her odd hair color. I complied, and drew the attention from the Moon's Eye disciples away from the pink-haired beacon so she could take more convenient cover. Naruto, meanwhile, took his own assault rifle (a 5.56mm AK200 standard) from his shoulder and opened fire on the enemy. I knew we were fucked the moment more reinforcements came around the corner.

Lucky for us, their numbers were the only thing that topped ours. Skill, insight, endurance, mentality; we knew their forces received very little training, but this was an insult to the profession of assassins and nothing more. I tried to ignore the morbid thought that we were doing the world of assassins a favor while I slit another opponent's throat with my trusted knife. So much blood was spilled already today, and I'm afraid that's how it's always going to be in my life. There was simply no other option - I knew too much to risk letting me quit the Order.

Fighting our way through the masses (and the body count rising to alarming heights), we finally arrived into something that appeared to be the main command center. Naruto barred the door on my unspoken order, and Sakura immediately hooked up her portable 10TB hard drive to search for and store any useful intel we could salvage, before erasing every clue that the Moon's Eye ever ran this place.

And then he showed up.

Kabuto Yakushi.

Carrying a huge Atchisson AA-12 shotgun, Kabuto tore Naruto's barricade to shreds with two shots flat. Sakura yanked her storage device from the main server, forfeiting the gold mine of intel this place held, before taking defensive positions with Naruto and myself, locked and loaded for a surprise attack.

He kicked the door in, cackling like the psychopath he was - or became by selling his soul to Orochimaru - and smirked maniacally. His snake eyes had the same insane glint to them, as he began spraying shotgun shells across the room.

"I know you're here, rosies!" He cackled. I mourned for him on the inside, not knowing and/or caring if Naruto could hear or feel it. All I could feel from the blonde was an intense burst of hatred. "Come play with uncle Kabuto!"

Again, the gray-haired psycho I once called my friend wasted a barrage of shells by shooting them all across the room without so much as aiming or even _looking_ at us. I was beginning to doubt if he could see us at all, even though the room wasn't exceptionally dark or full of cover options.

I exchanged looks with Naruto, and we both knew that this was the moment to strike.

As if someone had pressed the slow-motion button, me and my best friend jumped out of cover and, in an outstanding display of skill, precision and teamwork, aimed and fired exactly at the same time. Two bullets made their way into Kabuto's skull.

...Only to come out on the other side without harming the victim.

Kabuto exploded into maniacal laughter again.

"What the hell?" Naruto snarled.

A few grains of sand spilled on the floor from the bullet holes in Kabuto's head. I twitched; an earth Elemental? Since when -

Then it hit me.

If I remembered the table of elements correctly, earth beats wind, wind beats water, water beats fire, and fire beats earth. Apparently, Naruto and Sakura remembered that as well.

"Don't you use fire magic?"

_"Fucking _do_ something, Teme!"_

I conjured up a big fireball tapping into my own magic reserves and hurled it at the earth Elemental I thought to have, but never really had known. It killed me from the inside, but this was no longer the Kabuto I had called my friend.

Kabuto extinguished the fireball by embracing the full frontal hit, with a body made of... water?

He looked down on me with a wicked smirk that made me feel an intense burst of morbid hatred I hadn't felt before. Not for the revolting monstrosity that was standing before us in all of its repulsive, disgusting glory, representing the hideous fusion of nature and science. The monster I once deemed my friend, but now took 'freak of nature' to a whole new level.

"Yes," that same monster now screeched. "Thanks to Orochimaru, I am the living embodiment not of the element, but of _all_ elements! Bow before the king- the _emperor_ of Nature itself!"

Kabuto proved that he actually could aim by missing my head on an inch at most, snapping me out of my disgust. I ducked for cover, while running through every battle tactic my mind could come up with, regardless of the efficiency.

Naruto was the one properly using his brain, though, this time (as impossible as that may sound). Tapping into his demonic soul, he transformed into a hybrid of a human and a demon; curved horns raised from his scalp as his fangs turned into tusks. Bat wings unfolded on his back, ripping holes in his shirt. His elbows started growing large spikes on them, pointing outward to make very dangerous weapons. His hands and feet were encased in some sort of bone-like armor, and fiery red markings spread all over his body. Lastly, his eyes were literally on fire, and capable of setting anything aflame. Doubling his speed, endurance and magic power, the transformation was one of Naruto's most fearsome abilities. He looked hideous, yes, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Sakura, witnessing Naruto's cursed state for the first time, looked like she was about to throw up. Pulling herself together fairly quickly, though, she took two deep breaths and once more her eyes blazed with confidence. Naruto didn't utter a word, and charged for the attack.

A slight example to put his speed on display: Kabuto was still busy being amazed by his transformation when Naruto had already landed five hits on the fake elemental. It was virtually invisible to the human eye, and the only reason I could follow his moves was because of my own genetic advantage. Naruto tore Kabuto a new one, even without the feverish desire to kill, to destroy.

In fact, the blonde wasn't even trying to damage his enemy.

The only reason Naruto was attacking was because he was building up energy; huge amounts of negative energy he drew from hate, pain, anger, suffering and death. All the energy put into these things were absorbed by his demonic body, stored into the very core of his soul and this way build up to tremendous pressure. In the end, this would lead to a discharge of dark energy, a mighty roar that both physically and mentally annihilated any living being until nothing remained.

Naruto had aptly named it 'Hell's Breath'.

I heard the demon inhabiting my friend roar in my mind, which I knew was the signal for me to get Sakura and haul ass before we would get obliterated by the sheer force of the demon's roar.

I found the pink-haired girl staring at my friend in a state of shock-horror-amazement at his potential and pulled her stammering being from the floor she was kneeling on, dragging her along with me through the maze of the Moon's Eye outpost. I ignored the yells of alerted guards, gunshots, bullets that flew past my head by inches and physical strain that my body was experiencing. All I cared about was dragging me and Sakura to safety, to get away from the time bomb that we called Naruto.

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Everyone who's been waiting for this, thank **SmilesLasting** for talking me into continuing it. Do her a favor and read her stories, too. Still think it's a waste of time to be writing this, though. I dare you to prove me wrong. Leave a review, please.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>

**P.S. **My fight scenes aren't the greatest. I apologize. - _Victim_


	10. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

_"Why does man refuse to be chained to truth, while they claim it sets them free?"_

* * *

><p>A broken shell of his former self.<p>

That was how Naruto looked every time he returned from using that technique. That diabolical punishment of a higher, divine entity, that was as much a brutal power as it was a curse, a curse for mankind that was Naruto's to bear. It was almost as if he was the Messiah. Only without the hope-giving and saving people part, I thought wryly.

He - _we_ - just hurt people.

Tortured them.

_Murdered_ them.

And for what? A puny living that we make from it, which is not worth the right of existence to begin with? The feeling of power we gain from the illusion of controlling death? The respect we claim from the people, like a dictator demanding his will be done?

For our perception of 'truth' to reign over others', which are at best inferior to ours?

It radiated off the blonde; the intense hatred he harbored toward himself, his life, his job and this world in general. I knew from experience that it was the demon's hold on his soul once set free to this degree. The rest of the world saw another victim of the nuclear war that ravaged this world seemingly ages ago; apathetic, depressed, wry and cynical. Forgotten how to live, merely existing throughout nameless days and countless hours.

He fell to his knees, roaring out in agony for all the men and women that had fallen by our hands today. Every truth that was theirs was lost with their lives, every story and memory annihilated by ours.

The purge of dark energy that Naruto had used to cleanse the building from any Moon's Eye influence hadn't left a single man or woman alive. It was a ghost base now, fully operational and ready to be taken in use by the Black Rose.

Of course, we needed some new recruits to keep our new outpost running, and a secure landline directly into HQ. But those were formalities for future care.

Right now, my friend needed me.

I patted Naruto on the shoulder in a tiny, but significant display of compassion. He looked up at me with those usually fiery red eyes, that appeared to be a hollow red now, void of life, void of anything. That look said more than ten thousand libraries full of books couldn't even begin to describe. I offered my hand to the blonde; he took it with a weak smile and pulled himself up on me. Sakura hugged him, unable to hide her tears any longer.

We sent out a messenger bat (we used specially trained bats instead of regular birds; it had been Kakashi's idea, and another reason for us to believe he was a vampire) to HQ about our success and went into the nearest bar to drink away the numbing pain of dealing death to other living, sentient beings, each with their own people that will miss them now that they've died for our cause while fighting for their own.

We never really cared that Sakura was still even with us, either.

She had made it into our comfort zone in an exceptionally short time, I realized later on, and without even really trying, too. But the most amazing feat was just that we (me and Naruto) didn't mind her presence to begin with. She had become a friend, like Kiba, like Suigetsu, like Shikamaru.

An idea hit me.

The Black Rose could use a field medic, with Tsunade rarely leaving HQ and Shizune keeping Research running entirely on her own. The only obstacle that would rise would be Angel Witch; I highly doubted they'd be willing to let go of an assassin with such potential, and killing off that entire creed was simply not done. Assassins had honor and pride - most of them anyway. Moon's Eye wasn't exactly known for living by the old assassin's code that every creed based its rules and regulations on.

I needed to discuss this with Kakashi and Itachi, and maybe with Jiraiya himself as well.

"Sasuke, are you okay?"

I looked up into emerald green eyes, filled with a mix of sorrow, concern and stern endurance. Sakura placed her little hand on my shoulder, sending tiny sparks through every fibre of my body. It didn't take me long to realize she was checking my physical health. I wanted to pick up my shot glass of vodka, but she gripped my shoulder with surprising strength.

"Magic?" I asked out of genuine curiosity. She nodded, the focus visibly rising in her eyes.

"Physically, you're fine," she concluded. I rolled my eyes and sneered that I would've noticed it myself if it were any different. She shut me up with a glare that I hadn't seen before, and I concluded that there was more to the pink-haired medic that I had given her credit for. Or maybe my glares were really that contagious, as Kiba often remarked, but I doubted that. The words she said to me were blurry and I had a hard time making sense of them, only comprehending something along the lines of 'it never hurts to check, just to be sure'. I didn't really care much, either. There were simply too many things on my mind at the moment.

"I was thinking about some stuff," I replied stoically, shrugging her hand off my shoulder and chugging back another shot.

She opened her mouth to protest, but Naruto wisely shook his head. He knew my episodes of solitude, and the... situations that occurred when one forced their way into my head.

They had the tendency to end up with a .408 caliber pill - In their skull. Point blank.

...I really needed to do something about those anger outbursts of mine, however rare they were.

And let's face it: in this particular case, that would be such a waste of talent.

The rest of the evening, Naruto and Sakura let me drink in silence, with only my memories as company. Which was exactly the way I liked it at this point. I suspected this to be a side effect of the dark energy purge Naruto used; it must've radiated off on us before we made our escape, leaving us depressed and mentally exhausted.

I couldn't even begin to fathom the strain it left on Naruto's mind.

To still be able to resist the urge of putting a cap in his own skull to begin with was worth a hell of a lot of respect (then again, it would probably leave the demon to take over his soul completely, which wasn't exactly an improvement, but still).

There was never a reason to think that our line of business would do something good for other people than ourselves, but every time countless people died for no good reason, I couldn't help but suffer from bursts of remorse. Even though they were enemies, opponents, business competition, whatever you want to call them, they were still human beings.

Maybe I really wasn't cut out for the cold-blooded killing and merciless violence. But just quitting was impossible.

I'd seen and done too much. I was in too deep, and didn't want to put Itachi up to the impossible task of murdering his own brother, and the only close relative he had left. Because aside from Jiraiya, he was probably the only one capable of doing it.

He took the concept of having no remorse to a whole new level; even when our own father Fugaku Uchiha turned out to be a corrupt official with a hit on his head, Itachi volunteered to take it. Jiraiya wasn't stupid, and figured how close Itachi could get to the target without raising suspicion. So he got the job. And without a single second thought, he pulled the trigger.

He awarded his ice cold blood to his exceptional sense of justice, which was stronger than his conscience, regardless of his relations to the target or the circumstances. If one had done something that was enough to draw Itachi's attention, the best thing they could do is write their last will. Either that, or kill themselves before they suffered his wrath. I guessed that was where his nickname 'The Angel of Death' came from (at least, I believe it was his nickname; one of the main feats of a good assassin is his ability to stay hidden the entire time. The only detail that was known to the public was his withering rose tattoo, so it could basically be anyone from the Black Rose).

The minutes we spent in the bar grew into hours, and by the time we walked back night fell over the small town. The dangers of the dark was given a new dimension with creatures like vampires having access to the streets. I slept with one eye open that night; I didn't feel like shooting up any more of them after the last time, not in this depleted state anyway.

Around three in the morning that night, I woke up to a subtle creak of the old wooden door. In a matter of moments, I stood next to the intruder with my gun point blank at their head. I couldn't suppress a slight smirk - Still got the moves.

Then I felt cold metal touch the back of my head.

I froze when I recognized the person under my gun. It was Itachi.

My smirk broadened.

The guy with the gun against my head had to be Kakashi, then. They were testing me.

Fools.

They should know that an assassin of my caliber didn't need a test like this - I was at the top of my game at any given time. Even now, when rudely awoken by the intruders in my room, I still had the upper hand against them (okay, more or less, they were the top assassins in the Order for a reason).

I ducked, swept my foot over the ground and tripped the gray-haired non-vampire. He threw his gun up in the air and before he even hit the floor, I caught the falling weapon and had both intruders pinned down under gun point.

They smirked simultaneously.

"We trained you well, kid," Kakashi complimented. I chuckled and bowed my head in regard, playing with his gun for a bit (he really took good care of his Browning .40S&W Hi-Power Practical) before returning it to him. Itachi took the liberty of sitting down on the battered desk, tripping Naruto upon entering the room, woken up from the noise. Sakura followed suit, although with a bit more care and thus noticing the reason my - scratch that, _our_ blond friend rolling through the room.

I rolled my eyes at the knuckle-headed idiot friend of mine, and offered my hand while I turned to Sakura.

"Sakura, meet my brother, Itachi -" I pointed at him with my other hand, "and Kakashi. They pretty much _are_ the Order of the Black Rose. Guys, Sakura Haruno of Angel Witch."

"Honored," Sakura said while greeting them both with a royal bow.

"What are that weasel and the pervert doing here!" Naruto yelled. I bopped him on the head with the back of my gun and beckoned for either of the two to explain.

"We're here," Kakashi started, "to discuss a few matters concerning your new friend."

Itachi shot each of us a look. "And in particular her induction into the Order."

"...Come again?" Sakura exclaimed flabbergasted.

Kakashi and Itachi shrugged in perfect synchronization. "We're fusing with Angel Witch. They're taking up our name," the latter said. "Having our best agents working together on such a dangerous op creates a bond, I suppose."

Sakura blinked, too amazed to utter a word. I just smirked. "That's even faster than I expected." I ignored Naruto's 'you-_knew_-about-this!'-look and leaned over to Itachi. "Matter of fact, I was about to propose the same thing to you when I got back to HQ," I whispered. He snorted and patted me on the head like a father praising his six-year-old son.

"Looks like I beat you again."

I punched him in the shoulder while Kakashi gave Naruto and Sakura some additional details about what's going to happen with both assassination orders. Apparently, Kurenai kept her rank and joined the top of the Black Rose, while some fellow Sakura called Inoichi Yamanaka was placed in Intel. Kurenai and the Black Rose were still working out the rest of the assignings, according to the silver-haired top dog.

"Say, what became of codename 'Four-Eyes'?" He suddenly asked none of us in particular. Sakura and I worriedly eyed Naruto, who in turn looked to the floor.

"He..." He paused and swallowed away the sorrow as best as he could. "I purged the entire base using Hell's Breath."

"...I'll scratch his name on the hit list," Itachi said morbidly. "Too bad we don't have the bod-"

"Leave it on," Naruto replied before my brother could even complete his sentence. "Four-Eyes is no longer human enough to die, it appears. He survived."

"He _survived_!" I couldn't help but yelling. Naruto sighed deeply and nodded.

"I hit him with the full blast. It didn't even tear him apart; he got away in one piece and very much alive."

Everyone in the room was speechless. We all knew the power of Naruto's dark energy, all having witnessed its horrific potential at some point in our history with the blonde. Hell, we were happy to have him on our side. The sheer fact that Kabuto had survived in the first place was as terrifying as it was unbelievable. Somehow, the demon host apparently felt that it was pointless to apologize for being unable to kill him, and that no one would hold it against him. He suffered enough already.

Kakashi scraped his throat. "...In any case. We have the outpost. You did an exceptional job on this op."

"How are we going to operate it?" I asked. "We lack the manpower and the resources to utilize it."

"Don't worry," Sakura said smirking. "I know a guy."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

To all of you who reviewed: thanks so much. I'm going through a few personal struggles at the moment, and to see that my writings are appreciated by all of you keeps me from doing stupid stuff. The update schedule is set back to Fridays, I'll try to stick to it.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	11. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

_"You, who claim to be holy men, appear to me as nothing but hollow souls..."_

* * *

><p>Once we returned to HQ, we found Itachi and Kakashi's words to be the undeniable truth. Not that we ever doubted that, but a fusion set up in such a short amount of time was practically impossible. Still, the two orders managed it, and everything appeared to have gone smoothly. The only thing that really was different was that the lobby where we relaxed in downtime was more crowded.<p>

Which wasn't always a good thing, I thought.

A woman with long brown hair and sharp red eyes introduced herself as Kurenai Yuuhi. Naruto and I shook her hand, giving her a once-over in the process. She looked like she was in her late twenties, like Shizune; that's where the similarities stopped, really. Kurenai was dressed in a black top, long blood red trench coat, ripped jeans and low-heeled boots. Two knives were strapped on each of her thighs. She carried a large blade on her back.

"So you're our new boss?" Naruto asked, sporting a failed attempt at a seductive smirk. "Wouldn't mind taking orders from you. I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He winked at her. She ignored his last statement and shook my hand, while I was preoccupied with giving my best friend a reprimanding look.

"Sasuke Uchiha. Brothers," I added pointing to Itachi.

"I heard stories about you," she stated. "About your exceptional talent."

"Well, they're true," Sakura answered before I could. I glared at her, but she just smiled. Rolling my eyes half-annoyed and half-amused, I gave up. Sakura took this as a sign to grab my arm and drag me to the crowd of former Angel Witch members.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team."

Five people greeted the rosette upon catching sight of her; a guy of Itachi's age with long blond hair and blue eyes, a girl of Sakura's age with the same hair and eyes, a girl with brown hair up in buns and equal brown eyes, a woman of Itachi's age with blue hair and amber eyes, and -

"Chouji?" Naruto said unbelievingly.

The chubby boy with an overall friendly and un-assassin-ish look jerked up.

"Naruto!"

I looked at my friend and quirked one eyebrow. He smirked while bro-hugging this Chouji fellow.

"Chouji Akimichi and I went to the same elementary school," Naruto explained with Chouji nodding. "He'd always share his favorite food with me; we became real good friends very quickly."

"I should've known," I said shaking my head and snickering.

"So anyways, you know Chouji now," Sakura said eagerly. "These are Deidara, Ino Yamanaka, Tenten - Don't ask about her name," she whispered darkly into my ear (as anyone with half a brain cell would realize that she was named after the 'Day of Reckoning'), "and Konan, respectively." She pointed to everyone aforementioned in that order. "The new recruits, including me and Inoichi."

"Dad's already working his ass off to intergrate our database into yours," the girl named Ino Yamanaka said to me. "Looks like he acclimatizing pretty well already, up in Intel." She winked at me. I snorted and turned my head, as if to say that Uchihas don't get flirted with. Apparently, she got the point.

"You should get your Mark replaced, Sak," the blue-haired woman Sakura called Konan said casually. She didn't seem too happy with the fact that the Angel Witch tattoo was being replaced, both Naruto and I noticed. He beat me to interrogating her.

"What's wrong with our ink?" Naruto growled. She looked him in the eyes, not in the least impressed with either the feral snarl or the hostility radiating off the blonde. She flicked a piece of paper at his head, catching him off guard and hitting him in the head with it.

"Nothing, really; I like the black rose and all. But it just kind of sucks to get the name that was derived from you stripped like that."

"Angel Witch was named after Konan's nickname," Sakura explained. "She - well, just watch..." She pointed at Konan, who got up and out of nowhere grew a pair of angel wings from her back (it alsso explained the halter dress she was wearing, with pretty much an open back all the way). At this point, even Itachi was staring at her in amazement (the last time Itachi had been genuinely amazed was when he first witnessed Naruto's Hell's Breath technique).

Konan folded her wings back into her shoulders and sighed. "Kurenai and I started Angel Witch together. Because of my use of Black Magic and the wings, the name was a certainty."

At this point, Suigetsu barged into the lobby and charged at Naruto. Chaos ensued; I was just in time to usher Sakura out of the room and drag her to Meds & Research to get the proper ink job done.

Bad decision.

Imagine taking a gun-obsesssive ADHD patient to an army arsenal with a free pass to take everything he wants.

Tsunade had to literally sedate the pink-haired powerhouse before starting the rather painful removing of the old Mark. A pain any random assassin could stand, though, but still, Sakura just wouldn't sit still and endure it. Her jade eyes kept darting around the room, while her entire body twitched in agitation to closely examine the highly advanced technology.

Speaking of Marks.

An assassin's Mark was like old samurai code. An assassin was awarded his Mark after he proved himself worthy by succeeding in his first assignment, and swore an oath in blood and ink to embed his loyalty towards the brotherhood into his very body. It was kind of like the old Assassins did it in the Renaissance days, actually; showing your determination to the master by not only accepting your sacrifice, but embracing it.

Breaking this loyalty to the order would cost you your life... If you were lucky.

What was written in the old Assassin's Code we all lived by (mostly, I thought, remembering Moon's Eye) was gruesome to such an extent that no one ever even dared dreaming of attempting to break it. It was easier just to shoot your own brains out if you wanted to leave; if you were in a highly regarded order that obeyed the Code, your last service wouldn't be blemished by remaining as a living corpse. Even Moon's Eye didn't 'zombify' (turning corpses into mindless, soulless undead fighting machines) their dead brothers, which was really saying something.

Five minutes later, Sakura wore our bleeding black rose tattoo proudly on her right shoulder. "How does it look?" she asked me. The corners of my mouth twitched in an ever-so-tiny smile.

"Perfect. Welcome to the Black Rose."

Sakura giggled and hugged me, seemingly out of sheer happiness. I rolled my eyes, amused at this... _girl_ and her happy-go-lucky antics. I pushed her off and beckoned her to come with me. She tried (and failed) to interrogate me on my motives along the way, her anxiety and frustration growing with every step we took.

We turned a corner and were greeted by a confidently smirking Naruto, looking slightly battered; his hair was ruffled, his clothes wrinkled and a fiery scratch marred his left cheekbone. Sakura gasped and displayed her skill as a medic for the first time to us: she charged a bluish green magic field in her right hand and pressed it to Naruto's face. The wound disappeared in a matter of seconds. She sighed accomplished and relieved; my regards for her skyrocketed instantly. Naruto, too, seemed very thankful for this gift of medical skill we had. For the remainder of the walk, the blonde rambled on about his wrestling match with Suigetsu, and how he dominated the Elemental.

When we arrived at our destination, I knocked on the only door at the end of the hallway.

Kakashi opened, surprised to see me and my companions behind me. "Sasuke?"

"I want to report an addition to my team," I stated, loud and clear. Naruto smirked, Sakura shot her head up in surprise. "Sakura Haruno will from now on assist me and Naruto Uzumaki on contracts unless specifically requested differently."

Kakashi (as far as visible) smirked and nodded. "Addition noted. You're dismissed. Good hunting."

"What was that for?" Sakura hissed at me on our way back to the main floor. She was still kind of scrambled from this sudden burst of acceptance she feared she might not have gotten.

"Hn."

She turned to Naruto. "Translation please?"

Naruto shrugged. "Sasuke and I agreed that we made a pretty damn good team back there on the Moon's Eye hit," he explained. "So we decided to not take any chances of other teams snatching such a skilled medic from under our noses, and let you join in right away."

"What about Ino?" She flailed. I shot her a glare to silence her.

"She appeared to make a pretty decent team with that Chouji kid," I remarked truthfully. "Maybe have Shikamaru join them for the long-ranged attacks, and you have a rock solid assassination team."

"Ino is a Mindjacker," Sakura said angrily. "She can infiltrate and control other people's bodies and minds. I don't see how that would work with a shadowmaster."

"Well, to hold her targets in place to make the process a little easier for example."

"..."

I smirked. Win.

"Believe me, you're gonna love hanging out with us on important contracts," Naruto practically yelled. "Sasuke's one of the top-ranking assassins in the Order; he gets the best hits, first."

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Somehow, I doubt that could only be interpreted as a good thing. C'mon, Tenten's setting up a new department in the Order with Anko, let's go check it out."

On our way to the new Weapons department, we (Naruto and I) crossfired questions about the former Angel Witch members' abilities at Sakura. She happily answered them, filling us in to the last detail. For example, we learned that Tenten was a top-ranking shooter, martial artist and weapons expert. She could practically build a gun out of anything, according to Sakura. She also explained that her parents had a very morbid sense of humor, naming their daughter after the Day of Reckoning.

Deidara was an artist who created clay sculptures, clones if you like, and animated them using magic. This ability knew no limits as to what shape or form the sculptures had; from ants to helicopters, he could animate it either way. This was the guy Sakura probably meant when we discussed operating our new base, too, because his ability allowed him to create an army of stone robots for the daily tasks at the outpost.

Chouji was a Shapeshifter; a mutant that could in- or decrease the size of his body, or parts of it, at will. His arms could grow as big and thick as thousand-year old oaks, his body the size of a boulder like in the classic tomb trap movies. In short, the chubby boy was a living tank. His father turned out to have been a friend of Shikaku back in the day, but was reported MIA a few years back. Devastated, Chouji joined Angel Witch to find out more about his father's past and refine his skills to put them to good use. His goal was finding out what happened to his father, so that he could finally find peace.

Inoichi had the same ability as his daughter, combined with a telepathic ability that outranked even my own. His intellect and communication range made him an invaluable asset to Intel. In battle, Inoichi had a very keen eye for the sniper rifle, and was an expert on explosives, in case one of us screwed up. He and Chouza (Chouji's father) had been an assassination team once; a force to be reckoned with, according to rumors and Sakura's experience.

Lastly, Kurenai's nickname 'the Queen of Illusions' said enough in itself, really. She used magic to make people see, hear, feel, think, and believe whatever she wanted them to. It took a very, _very _strong mind to fight the effects of her magical illusions, let alone resist them altogether. It was practically impossible. Sakura said that Kakashi had used a similar spell to make us forget about Suigetsu earlier, but with less mental barricades to stop us from breaking the illusion. Kurenai's non-magical weapon of preference was a throwing knife, or actually multiple. With a bit of witchcraft, she could double the speed at which she threw the knives with. With results as deadly as I had in mind.

We arrived at the armory officially called 'Weapons and Gadgets Department' (a department that everyone would be calling 'the armory' in a matter of days), dropped off our weapons for improvement and overall checkup and left again. Tenten, looking happy with being in charge of the place, gladly accepted the jobs and instantly went to work while we went to the lobby to get some food. Feeling tired, accomplished and - well, _tired_, Naruto and I said goodbye to Sakura and left for our room to finally, finally get some sleep.

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

I'm shifting the update date to Thursdays because apparently the entire world goes partying on Friday. So yeah, all the better for your guys, because you get this one a day early. Sorry if the quality for this one dropped slightly - filler chapters have to happen now and then. My apologies.

A big thank you to everyone who reviewed - it helped. You wouldn't know how much it did.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven  
><strong>_"Between the velvet lies there's a truth as hard as steel."_

* * *

><p>The next morning during breakfast hours, the first thing I realized was Chouji's appointment as our cook. Naruto wasn't kidding; this guy really knew what he was doing with kitchen utensils. I suspected a little piece of magic here and there, but as long as it made the food that much more amazing, there was nothing to complain about. I had been suspicious at first, having a newcomer from a guild that had been a business rival until yesterday to make food for all of us, but Naruto, Shikaku, Sakura and Kakashi assured me that there was nothing to worry about. And since I hadn't found a trace of poison in anything the chubby Shapeshifter prepared, I decided to give him a chance.<p>

I greeted a surprisingly tired-looking Kiba on his way to Chouji's cooking island, and smirked mockingly.

"Long night, Inuzuka?"

"More like no night at all," he grunted back. "Kakashi lifted me from my bed to complete an express job at three in the fucking morning; I'm glad I got any sleep in the first place." As if to make an example, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes at that point and yawned. "Did get paid double, though."

"Aren't werewolves immune to exhaustion?" I said, the smirk ever-present on my face. Kiba just flipped me off.

"I wish. It ain't full moon out. Maybe Tsunade can get me something to make that happen..." He suddenly jerked up. "That's actually a pretty damn good idea. Thanks, Uchiha."

I shrugged. "Guess I'm just full of good ideas."

"Oh, shut up, it's a miracle you can squeeze your ego into this base in the first place," Kiba bit back. "And that's saying more about your ego than the size of this fucking city we have as a base." I smirked and flipped him off, which he mimicked along with the smirk.

"So," Kiba started while dropping his werewolf body in a chair next to mine, balancing two mugs of coffee and a plate of raw buck meat on one hand and setting it down on the worn table. "What's with you and this Sakura chick?"

"No idea what you're talking about," I replied stoically. Kiba rolled his eyes.

"I know you, Uchiha. You don't go adding random chicks to your team out of the blue." He tore a piece of red flesh from the chunk on his plate with his bare teeth, a trail of deer blood dripping down his chin. I shot him a half-annoyed, half-disgusted glare.

"I make exceptions for field medics as skilled as she is," I said without batting an eye. He was obviously trying to pick my brains, and I wasn't planning on letting his lupine ass dig around in my head. We had a boneyard for that (okay, terrible joke). Besides, there was nothing to look for in the first place, so might save us both the trouble of searching.

"Whatever," he sighed as a sign of capitulation, falling back into small talk after that. I mostly replied with one-syllable answers, except when asked for my opinion on the improved food.

Members of the Order kept drippling in as the minutes passed by; some a little more comfortable than others. You could easily tell who felt most at home in Black Rose HQ, as most of the males that just woke up didn't bother putting on a shirt when entering the dining room, whereas Deidara was fully dressed. The female members of the Black Rose before the fusion didn't wear much clothing to begin with; that's what you get if you employ two hookers (Tsunade and Shizune not included).

I emptied my mug of coffee, got up, greeted Kakashi on my way to my room and jumped into the shower. The hot spring water felt as rejuvenating on my restoring body as an Asian massage. After getting out, I tossed a CD into my battered stereo set and hit play before shaving. It had been a few days since I'd had the chance to, and it felt good to slide the razor along my chin and face, eliminating all facial hair. Humming along to Exodus, I picked out my outfit (choosing between black, black, black or black proved harder than it sounds) and plugged in my bass guitar when I was done doing so.

My spare time hobby, aside from target practice, was learning to master the low notes of the electrical bass guitar. The buzz in the gut that one experienced when hitting the thick strings was what I loved most about bass playing; you could literally _feel_ your own music.

Of course, Itachi wouldn't let me off for more than three seconds before I received a mental order from him to report to his office in five minutes. I rolled my eyes and put away my instrument again before reaching for my gun, only to realize that I had left it with Tenten at the armory yesterday. My annoyance grew as I locked the door to my room behind me and strolled halfway across the base to reach my destination.

A short stop at the armory and a crash course in the new laser pointer function on my gun later, I knocked on Itachi's office door in my trademark way. He opened and ushered me in, two steaming espressos already sitting on his desk, ready, willing and able to be consumed by two caffeine-craving Uchiha siblings. I assumed a comfortable position in one of his lounge chairs after grabbing my share of the black liquid gold, while he remained standing and paced up and down behind his desk.

"Have we done the right thing, Sasuke?" He finally asked me after a long, thoughtful pause.

I sighed and took a slow sip of my coffee. It wasn't strange for him to ask my opinion on certain sensitive matters, as the bond of blood (both ours and blood bonds in general) went deeper than the longest friendship could ever dream of (as much as Naruto was like a brother to me, it felt like Itachi was on a different level of sorts). Though this could be both a good and a bad thing, the bond I shared with Itachi was definetely stronger than any family bond he had ever had, hence the trust and the value he placed in my opinion on this matter.

"...Judging from Sakura's performance so far, absolutely."

"I want to get a good sense of where everyone's at." Red clashed with red as he looked me straight in the eye. "Thoughts on this whole fusion?"

I fell silent. I hadn't really thought about it until now, but the good old gut feeling practically never failed me before. Since it felt more complete with the new additions to the team, I had no reason to doubt his decisions. "...Risky," I concluded my musing truthfully. "Suppose you got lucky."

"Speaking of lucky." He chugged down the remainder of his coffee all at once and sat down behind his desk, starting up his state-of-the-art laptop in the process. He was clearly pulling up her file, probably to interrogate me about it. I fell into thought again until Itachi snapped me out of it by reading Sakura's stats out loud.

"Sakura Haruno. Born March 28, 2002; pink hair, green eyes, 5'5". Blood type O; occupation: assassin and field medic; highly trained in the use of pistols and SMGs. User of Fracture magic and healing spells. Poisoncraftswoman, trained in the craftsmanship of the Hidden Leaf school. Assassination contracts completed: 193; special ops completed: 14. Anything I'm forgetting?"

I shook my head. "Unless you want her favorite kind of tea in there. Which is cherry tea, by the way."

The smirk Itachi sent my way said more than a thousand words: I had said too much.

"Anything happening between you and her I should know about as your guardian?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows in a way I thought impossible for an Uchiha. I pulled myself together in a matter of miliseconds, however.

"Not really. I'm just observing my surroundings, like you taught me." I strained that last sentence a bit more than I normally would have, but he had been asking for it. From Itachi's reaction to it, it had worked and the message that he should drop the matter got through.

After reading into the files of the newcomers a bit more (curiosity never harmed anyone but the figurative cat), I left Itachi to being important again and went to find my partners to get some practice done at the shooting range. By working in this business, one has to stay in shape, no matter how good you already are. Besides, with the newcomers around, we might pick up a few pointers from each other here and there, especially because there were numerous ways of the assassin. And with new techniques came new technologies.

Like the new laser targeter on my gun, I thought with a smirk.

I greeted Konan, who joined me on my trek to the shooting range. I couldn't help giving her a once-over, one of those nasty habits my instinctive awareness brought. It was often taken for curiosity or other more indecent mindsets. But I knew better, and everyone around me did for that matter.

Walking in already-trademark high-heeled black pumps, Konan had decided on wearing a similar halter dress as when I first met her. A trinket of what appeared to be a black skull hung from the necklace around her neck. Her gun holsters were strapped to her stockinged thighs (I had a hunch she rarely used those - she struck me more as the magician type that settled things with a few well-placed spells).

I questioned the blue-haired Angel Witch about her Black Magic; learning that her abilities varied from physical wounds (Rend) to mutations (Deform) to mental overload (Decimate). She specialized in the school of the Seven Sins to demoralize her opponents when in need for information or simply to make her job easier, and in case things really turned ugly, resorted to Diabolic Intervention, an anti-form of Divine Intervention, a spell that various scholar bands frequently used. The difference was the fact that Divine Intervention rooted out the people with tainted souls and wicked hearts, whereas Diabolic Intervention just rooted out those who the used deemed enemies. All in all, the technique was similar to Hell's Breath; weaker though more accurate. Naruto, on that part, was still a loose cannon: better to get the fuck away from if the shit hit the fan.

We arrived at the shooting range where I loaded my trusted handgun with the familiar recyclable rubber-tipped ammo. I took the first lane and half-expected Konan to turn up right next to me, but she didn't. Instead, she leaned back against the wall and started observing my movements. I couldn't suppress a smirk. It looked like my legendary status spread farther than even I had expected. But I wasn't complaining. If anything, it was the biggest compliment anyone could've given me.

She kept watching me as the first targets popped up, and in no time, the score counter on my lane hit three hundred as I hit three targets dead center of the crosshair. I didn't have time to turn around and witness Konan's reaction as the new round of targets appeared (only to be annihilated by me in a matter of moments), but I felt the growing amazement radiating off the woman.

After watching me for a few rounds, she snorted. I looked at her from the corner of my eye, picked off the last target and hit the time-out button, turning around to face her. "Something the matter?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Isn't it kind of cheating, using those eye powers of yours? I mean, hell, anyone could shoot like that with your eyes."

I smirked. "I suppose it would be. Gotta get used to it to optimize performance in battle, though." I paused and played with my gun for a second, before turning back to the shooting range and smirking again.

"Besides, not that I've been using it just now."

The amazement was nearly causing her eyes to burst out of their sockets. The cocky smile remained present on my face, long after turning back to the shooting range as if nothing happened. Because let's face it, some person or another being amazed by my superior skills was nothing new to me. Business as usual, so you will. I ran out of bullets before I ran out of targets, and decided to call it quits at that point. I took a quick peek at the leaderboard we kept around for motivational purposes, and smirked at my name claiming the fifth spot. Jiraiya still occupied pole position, without him ever being seen at the shooting range; a mystery that would never be solved, but no one would ever doubt the authenticity of it. I shrugged it off, greeted some newcomer on my way out and left a stunned Konan in my wake.

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Again, thanks to **SmilesLasting** for beta-ing this chapter for me. I shouldn't write at three AM - it turns out my writing skills aren't all that great in the dead of night. Even though I can somehow resist the temptations of the internet better at night. Anyways, tell me what you think. Next chapter will be a surprise.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

_"We oil the jaws of the war machine and feed it with our babies..."_

* * *

><p>Teachers or mentors or whatever you want to call them used to make us read history books about sailors believing that bringing a woman aboard meant penance along the way. Your ship would get caught in rainstorms, pirates would raid you, or scurvy would break out on your vessel.<p>

Well, they were wrong.

Sakura was a gem. Proving to be extremely skilled in silent assassination techniques, she was an asset to our team and the Order in general. Her knowledge of medicine made her a dangerous craftswoman of the most lethal and gruesome poisons, thus she could create a poison for any particular request. Her Fracture magic was finally given a purpose, as we now had one more way to attack our target: from below. Also made for great hideouts in case we should be in need of one. Her talents as a field medic was of more value to Tsunade and Shizune, as it provided great pointers to the Order's equipment on certain missions. Medpacks were improved from the inconvenient gel patches to syringes, and infused with adrenaline to increase chances of survival in a tight situation. The official new name: stimulation package, or 'stimpack' for short.

And I'm not going to lie, she was still one hell of a sight to see.

Every move she made was drenched in grace and joy, as if every fight was a lifetime of happiness to her. Every giggle that escaped her mouth was made of pure gold, as if she was a mystical being we used to call angels (not the kind Konan was; a real divine creature). And those eyes.

Those _eyes_.

As if she could see straight into time with it, the mischievous glint that sparked with every glance she laid upon the world grew more intense in those jade gems of hers. Those eyes, filled with happiness, love and wealth, were the living proof that there was still hope for the world. A beacon of hope, prosperity and peace, whether it be in life or death.

Sakura, of course, was oblivious to the fact that this was how I thought about her; there was no reason for me to disturb her by confirming how pretty she was. Kiba, Suigetsu, Deidara, Naruto and Karin did that enough already. Besides, it was not exactly an Uchiha thing to do. We - Itachi and I - draw girls to _us_. We don't draw to girls (give me a break, I have a reputation to keep, okay?). Still, contrary to popular belief I was no robot, and I still experienced these things called emotions. While most of them are usually bothersome (like 'mercy' or 'compassion' for example), there were some that I actually valued and thus kept secret. I had little desire to have those tiny displays of humanity eventually spell my downfall, should an enemy ever discover them. Safety first, and all that.

Sakura - somehow - pierced right through that. For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to hiding what I was genuinely feeling and/or thinking from her when she asked me about them.

That same Sakura was passionately chattering about her latest medical discoveries with Tsunade to anyone who wanted to listen. Which in this case referred to, who else, Naruto and Ino. I was leaning against a wall a few feet away from them, my trademark way of saying 'I know these people, I don't want to be involved with them when they do something stupid, but touch and die'. And it was good like that.

Always aware of everything that happened in my vincinity, I watched the looks my partner in crime sent in the rosette's general direction. To my own surprise, I didn't even really realize how much that _offended _me until I caught myself growling under my breath when he swung an arm around her shoulders. The snarl on my face was so painfully obvious that Ino looked at me weirdly for a brief moment, and that's exactly when I noticed something was off. Desperately trying to fix the damage, I played it off by completely ignoring the three of them, even though it enraged me beyond what should be possible when they left under loud laughter. I didn't follow them; instead, I quickly looked around if anyone else had heard, and plugged my left ear bud in just for the hell of it.

Isolation was bliss, as it could be just perfect to muse on certain matters and just forget the continuous suffering, death, poverty and terror. In this case, it gave me the opportunity to reflect on to what extent hanging around Sakura in downtime fucked with my mind.

I focused on the music that was blasting a hole in my ears to make the thoughts of her stop lurking around in my head. The last thing I needed was falling in love, really. Considering the tension between Kakashi and Anko whenever they interact (and try to avoid touching each other at all costs), it could only end badly.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and someone yanked my bud out of my right ear. That same person decided it was a good idea to yell "Sasuke!" in my ear.

Which it wasn't.

Without ever bothering to look who disrupted my silent ramblings, I elbowed that person in the gut with a bit more force than probably needed. But hey, that's what they get for disturbing me.

Terror struck me when a high-pitched gasp found its way to my ears, and a blur of pink shot past my head. The blur of pink that turned out to be hair was bound for the floor, as Sakura collapsed to her knees while clutching her stomach and gasping for air.

Immediately, I felt the sharpened nails that belonged to Naruto scrape my throat as he slammed me head first into the same wall I had been leaning against. He forcefully turned me around and pulled me up to an inch off his own face, his crimson death glare burning its way into the black void of my eyes.

"What the _fuck _are you thinking!"

I smacked his arm away, one of his nails leaving a fiery red scratch in my neck, and crouched next to Sakura to make sure she regained her breath. Before I even opened my mouth to apologize, she shrugged my arm off her shoulders and stormed off. People would later tell me that I called after her out loud, which I didn't even realize. To my left, I vaguely heard Naruto snarl, but didn't process who was supposed to receive that and frankly, I didn't care all that much about it either. I got up, still in a state that held a middle between shock and fear, and did probably the most stupid thing I could ever do: I went after her. I caught up to her fairly quickly, in an empty corridor about halfway on route to her room. Grabbing her arm, I whirled her around and attempted to force her to look me in the eye. She refused to face me, though, preferring to look at the ground instead.

"Sakura."

Silence.

I rolled my eyes. "Sakura, I'm -"

"Sasuke, _let me go._ We'll talk later," she snapped at me, replacing my fear with anger. Now she was playing it off as if it was _my _fault for reacting to a sudden disruption of the peace in my personal surroundings? I bit my lower lip to refrain myself from shouting at her, and took two deep breats to calm myself down. It wasn't worth it. _It wasn't worth it_. Sakura had to understand it was a mistake. She _had_ to.

"Sakura, I -"

She cut me off by shaking her head and pulling her arm out of my grasp. "No. Just - just not now. Later." She turned her back to me and walked away, leaving me to stare at her.

Something inside me snapped.

"Listen to me!" I yelled, grabbing her shoulder and slamming her into the wall. My hand shot to her throat in a reflex, leaving red strain marks on her neck. She gasped, a chunk of air knocked out of her lungs by the cold, hard stone. Blinded by rage, I didn't fully realize what happened myself until the red haze faded from my vision. Emerald eyes exploded with horror and... disappointment? Then I realized that I had just made a disastrous mistake.

I promptly let the girl go, who stared at me for one second before running off once more. The only thing I really remembered from then on was the single tear that fell to the floor and her comment. Her comment, that stung more than any blade or bullet I ever took in my life.

"I was wrong about you, Sasuke Uchiha... I thought you had honor."

It was no more than a whisper, a mutter at best, but it rang through my head like a gong being hit with a sledgehammer.

Anyone with half a brain cell would leave her alone at this point; too bad that when your name is Sasuke Uchiha, leaving Sakura Haruno alone is as impossible as killing Naruto Uzumaki in cold blood. Hell, even that was easier. I followed her to her room and sighed. When listening closely, I could hear muffled sobs from inside the room. I reached out to knock on her door, but stopped halfway, reality finally catching up to me. Mostly.

Of course she didn't want to see me now.

Or would she...?

I decided on the old 'to hell with it' to settle the argument with my conscience and two sharp knocks of bone on reinforced wood were heard when my knuckles impacted with the door. The sobbing stopped. Instead, a dark "Leave me alone" sounded. I sighed. Should've expected that.

"Sakura."

The door opened, and before I realized it I was looking into the barrel of a gun. Tracing the weapon down to her shaking hand and further up along her shoulder into her tearful eyes, yet determined at the same time.

"I said leave me alone." Her voice was shaking. I hated seeing her like this, and I hated myself for making her feel this way.

I sighed in defeat. "I guess a lousy 'I'm sorry' won't cover it."

She snorted. "Not in the least." She cocked back the firing pin. "Leave."

"Sakura -"

"I misjudged you, Sasuke Uchiha," she cut me off while letting her arm with the gun drop. "I respected your skills, your reputation, yes. Everyone doe - did." She sighed melancholy, and I winced because I knew the pain I was putting her through.

"I -"

"But deep down, I knew there was more to the man I saw than just business and training. I saw a deep sense of justice, a noble twist to taking life. You destroyed that. You proved me that you're not even worth half the credit they give you - hell, not even a tenth."

"It was a mistake, okay?" I finally managed to grunt out without her interrupting me. She just snorted bitterly.

"Of course it was - _at first_. But the second time you hurt me was nothing more than _assault_, Sasuke Uchiha. And besides, assassins with as much buzz surrounding them as circled around you don't make mistakes. Ever." She turned around and slammed the door behind her, and I vaguely caught her saying something about resigning from our next contract.

My world collapsed.

Even before the start of the story, I had already ruined the end by trying to take what wasn't mine to begin with. A feeling of emptiness engulfed me, suddenly realizing how much I had without fully realizing it. Not only Sakura, but _everything_. Respect, friends, fame, solidarity. Now here I was, trapped in the dark, with every possible means of escape slammed shut. Shortly after coming to the conclusion she really left me hanging and it was entirely my own fault. I reached the same verdict about my actions as she had.

_"I was wrong about you, Sasuke Uchiha... I thought you had honor..."_

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

One: I'm late. I know. School started and it's taking a lot out of me. So don't blame the victim in this one, although I'd like to see you try and write a letter to my school to tell them to give me less work.  
>Two: It's short. For the same reason. If you hate me now, kiss my ass. I don't give a damn. It'll get better somewhere along the way.<br>Three: I'm tired and I'm snappy. Going to get some well-deserved rest now, but I couldn't sleep until I let my dear readers know that I am in fact still alive and active.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>

P.S. NEW MEGADETH ALBUM IN NOVEMBER. I AM FUCKING EXCITED. =D


	14. Chapter Thirteen & Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Thirteen  
><strong>_"Will we ever know what the answer to life really is?"_

* * *

><p>Here's a reason why I disliked taking chances so much:<p>

In a matter of seconds, I blew all the credit I built in all those years on one wrong bet. Everyone seemed to pretty much hate me for hitting a teammate, ally, and a girl foremost. The previous Angel Witch members refused to talk to me altogether. The rest of the Order tried to stay in contact with me as little as possible. The only exception was Naruto; my best friend didn't so much hate me as he'd settled on just disliking me. Which, of course, he took as an invitation to remind me of my stupidity every time he had the chance.

Hence why I preferred to lock myself in my room most of the time, unless absolutely necessary.

Chouji shot me a disgusting look as he slapped some leftovers of last night's dinner on a dirty plate and threw it on the counter without a word. I thanked him by showing him one of the fiercest death glares the Uchiha family had in store, took the plate of what could hardly be called food and flopped down on a random chair in the refectory. In silence, I ate my food, and made my way to the shooting range.

Along the way, Kiba, Deidara and Tenten all 'accidentally' bumped into me, but I stopped caring after a few days. After having throwing knives swish past your head by inches because _someone_ 'mistook her targets', people bashing my shoulder were nothing.

The funny thing is that no one would have made such a big deal out of it had it been Naruto or Suigetsu or any other male in Sakura's place. It was just how the world worked; hitting, abusing, raping and killing girls was something beasts like vampires did. Normal human beings had the dignity to respect females for what they were: beautiful creatures of nature. Harming one of them was blasphemy. Of course, when you encountered a girl on one of your contracts, you were free to act as you pleased. That was the only exception, and even then one didn't just go around killing ladies without following an unwritten honor code.

I didn't know how long I spent at the shooting range, or how many bullets I shot at the countless target dummies. All I knew was that each of them represented a share of my anger, which was still boiling inside of me. Which said more about my feelings than the amount of bullets - I loathed myself.

I kept at it for one more hour when Jiraiya himself suddenly paid a visit. He was followed by every member of the Order, until all of us were crammed into the small lobby that lead into the Pit. Usually when Jiraiya showed his face, something was going down. It depended on his mood whether it was good or bad.

"My dear brothers and sisters," the white-haired hermit started. "Today seemed like a good day to monitor the results of this investment. I want to see how all your hours you put into practicing battle situations paid off." He pulled out a list and put it on display. "I divided you in two-man units, and for the sake of improving teamwork, I broke up the standard teams of, say, Naruto and Sasuke."

A mocking snicker escaped my mouth, not too eager to find out who had the misfortune of being my co-op partner instead of the only member who admitted guilty of still talking to me. Jiraiya ignored my gesture like everyone else ignored me and continued.

"Each team has a time limit of ten minutes to clear the course, with an average of seven," Jiraiya continued. "Other than that, standard rules apply. Seven minutes should be more than enough for a Black Rose duo to clear the course. The teams are as follows..."

Itachi Uchiha - Kurenai Yuuhi  
>Kakashi Hatake - Deidara<br>Anko Mitarashi - Konan  
>Tsunade Senju - Inoichi Yamanaka<br>Shikaku Nara - Shizune  
>Shikamaru Nara - Chouji Akimichi<br>Naruto Uzumaki - Konohamaru Sarutobi  
>Shino Aburame - Kiba Inuzuka<br>Suigetsu Hozuki - Karin  
>Ino Yamanaka - Tenten<br>Sasuke Uchiha - Sakura Haruno

I rolled my eyes and cursed my luck.

Of all the choices Jiraiya could've made, he had to choose the single person in the Order I tried to avoid the most. It's almost as if he knew that something was going on between me and Sakura (something bad, that is).

"I assume that no one lets personal grudges or similar insignificant problems stand in the way of superior teamwork. I expect a demonstration as to why we are the top of the assassin's world."

Scratch that. It was clear that Jiraiya knew that Sakura and I had unfinished business, and he was trying to see if, and if so how much, it influenced the Order. Which could also be interpreted as an opportunity to set a few things straight. And I was willing to take it, if only she would listen. She really was something different, I thought; never before had a girl been so much on my mind as she was. And that was a good thing, for the most part.

I looked over to Sakura, the poor soul condemned to be the partner of Sasuke Uchiha. She avoided my eyes, so I let it slide. It was rude to force your thoughts onto someone who didn't want them, is what Itachi always taught me about our mental communication talents.

The group scattered into teams of two, some people already starting to make game plans with their assigned partners. Having ran the Pit countless times with Naruto, and once with Kiba, I knew the course pretty much blindly. Which didn't mean that I could count on either of their experience, or my knowledge of their abilities for that matter. I knew what Sakura was capable of, but with recent events in mind, I couldn't take a thing for granted with her. Conclusion: we had to set up our own GP.

Easier said than done when she pretty much couldn't stand being near me.

Jiraiya gave us two hours to set up our plans, so the majority of people left the crammed room to get some breathing space and keep certain details a secret. After all, this was still a competition. I loitered in the room until everyone with the intention to leave had done so, and walked up to Sakura. She purposefully kept avoiding my gaze.

"I believe we have work to do," I said deadpan. She just nodded. I sighed. "C'mon."

I could tell by only looking that she, too, was broken. Then again, I would be the last person on Earth (or what remains of it) to blame her. Losing a close friend is a feeling of betrayal that no man should ever wish upon even his worst enemy. I could tell.

In the end, it was me who ended up doing all the talking and planning. She just nodded occasionally. It pissed me off beyond recognition, but I tried my hardest not to raise my voice and lose my cool. After an hour, I gave up with a weary sigh.

"Sakura, I _know_ it's hell to be stuck with me right now. But at least use that to your advantage and pretend every bot you shoot through the head is me, or something. Don't make us look bad in front of the entire order."

She looked down and muttered "And what if I don't want to?"

I blinked. "What?"

She didn't look up, still unable and/or unwilling to face me. "I don't want to shoot you or whatever. I didn't want our friendship or whatever the fuck we had to end like this. I just -"

"I deserved it," I finished her sentence, my voice drenched in remorse.

She bit her lower lip. "I just don't know. I don't know if I'm able trust you anymore... Even if I want to."

I allowed the silence to linger for a few seconds, thinking how I should approach this. I settled on just asking "What's the cause of this struggle?"

"I..." She sighed. "On one hand, I don't want this distance between us any longer."

I nodded understandingly. "But on the other hand, you're having issues trusting me."

She gulped at my statement. "...Yes."

"I understand," I admitted. "And I'm not blaming you for it, after what happened." I mentally cursed myself once again and looked down in grief. "I know what it feels like to lose a close friend." My mind couldn't be stopped from creating vivid images of Kabuto Yakushi, and the first of a series of realizations that life on this god-forsaken planer really was all that bad. Even though our so-called 'leaders' claimed the fallout to be only a minor setback.

Heh. No one tells me what to do and especially what to believe.

However, despair does weird things to a person's mind. Even so much as nine years onward, the majority of people still believed the situation to be fixed in a year or two. Hell, there were people that believed that only a few weeks had passed since some dude pressed all the red buttons that said 'nuke - DO NOT PRESS'. Whether it was a result of radioactive radiation or just insanity from extensive mental stress, people didn't know - and in all honesty, I didn't have much hope people really cared all that much either.

"Do you think..." She started. I looked up, snapping out of my musings, and for the first time in weeks, the black of my eyes clashed with emerald. Her gaze held a middle between sadness, pain, desperation and a plea for help. I gestured her to go on. She gulped.

"Do you think there's a way we can bring back the days before - before _it_ happened?..."

"What do you want me to do?" I replied instantly, without batting an eye. This was the chance I'd been waiting for, but too much of a coward to impose.

Sakura shrugged. "Prove to me that you're trustworthy, Sasuke Uchiha."

"How much for helping you to the top score in this little contest of ours?"

What I saw next was the first smile, however small and weak, I'd seen on her lips since what felt like forever. It lingered for about half a second, but the memory of that smile was carved into my mind for eternity.

"It's a start."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Fourteen<br>**_"To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved."_

* * *

><p>I flung my gun around my index finger, armed with the expensive multi-purpose bullets. Bored and maybe even a bit eager to show off (still being an Uchiha), I watched Kakashi clock the top time of six minutes and twenty-five seconds flat, less than a second faster than Itachi and his partner. The two glared at each other; no glare of hatred or hostility, but pure rivalry that even they were vulnerable to.<p>

People came and went. Shikamaru (and his father, for that matter) had both pulled off a strategy that was as exceptional as it was damn near insane. An hour passed, most people failing to even get near to Kakashi's time.

I looked at Sakura. She tried her best to keep her composure, but my enhanced eyes could see the nerves growing inside her petite form by the second. I couldn't resist a small smirk. "Relax."

"What?" She looked at me, obviously in conflict whether she should be calmed, enraged or just embarassed by my calm state of mind. I repeated my sentence. She sighed, and tried to heed my advice as best as possible.

"Sakura," I said sternly. She gulped. "I need your full attention. Drop the nerves, that'll only slow us down."

"Well excuse me for not being the top shooter in the Order, thank you very much!" she snapped at me, hissing it all through her teeth. To her further annoyance, I started to snicker. "And what's so funny, Uchiha?"

"Nothing, nevermind," I said shaking my head slightly. She kept looking at me with a demanding curiosity hidden beneath the angry glare, and I eventually yielded, sighing as Kiba and Shino were just diving into the Pit.

"I just hope it's a good sign that you're snapping witty remarks at me again," I said shrugging. Matter of fact, I did hope it was a good sign. Living without the chaos that Sakura and certainly Naruto provided was... Boring, to say the least. Never thought I'd start missing it either, but here I was admitting that dreaded fact to myself.

Sakura, meanwhile, tried to hide the blush that was starting to show on her pretty (...wait, _what?_) face by looking away from me. I couldn't help but smile. Things were turning out right.

Finally, Ino and Tenten finished up their run in six minutes and forty-seven seconds. It was my - no, _our _time to shine. Sakura looked at me, and this time, I saw a fair share of determination in the emerald gems people generally referred to as eyes.

Looking in each other's eyes one last time, I asked the pink-haired assassin if I could access her mind for a strategy update whenever one was needed. She nodded. The sound of her whispered reply was drowned out by the annoyingly loud buzzer that signaled the start of our ten minutes. I never bothered to ask again, because my instincts instantly went on full alert mode and there was no time for pointless chatter.

Perfectly in sync with each other, we ducked into cover on opposite sides of the artificial war zone. I was on the left, while she took the right side. Scanning the surroundings and the area where we were headed in the blink of an eye (literally), I gave the all clear sign and we rushed up to the door of the first building we had to clear out. I couldn't help but notice that the sniper from the last time was gone; too predictable, possibly. Oh well, one less annoying enemy to worry about.

Sakura used her Fracture magic to disintegrate the door, a neat trick that I forgot about in the adrenaline high I was experiencing. Too bad I couldn't use my own magic to create flammable ammo. It'd just melt the rubber tips right off my bullets. That, and Shikamaru would throw a fit for destroying the expensive bots.

Inside, four hostiles were waiting for us.

Within mere seconds, Sakura had delivered two of them a clean head shot and crippled a third. The fourth never even got the chance to process what was going on, because a bullet bounced off the pressure-sensitive plating in the region where a human heart would be. I was proud to claim that kill. She genuinely smiled to me again.

"Nice work, Uchiha."

I briefly looked at the three bots that hat suffered her wrath and smirked. "Back at you. By the way, what was that you said about not being the top shooter in the Order earlier?"

Her face lit up slightly, and I wouldn't have been able to notice if it wasn't for my enhanced genes. I did feel a slight sense of disappointment at her use of my last name, though. We were far from where we started off, and it was on display for everyone.

Taking a moment to reload, we progressed throughout the first building into the second, where my favorite vantage point would be. This time around, though, we didn't have time to take thirty seconds per shot, as we were on a quite tight deadline here. Hence why I didn't bring my long-ranged rifle to begin with - carrying extra weight would only slow me down, and the first thing assassins learn is that victory lies in preparation.

Using my magic to create a distraction in the form of a fiery bird soaring over the heads of our opponents, Sakura and I swiftly picked them off one by one. Karma decided to be a bitch to us, though, as reinforcements chose that moment to show up. In the end, it landed us with ten extra enemies to get through, and we were tight on ammo to begin with. The rules had clearly stated that taking the bots apart using magical or physical force was strictly prohibited.

_"Here's what we're gonna do," _I thought to Sakura. _"I have a trick up my sleeve that will help us out, but it won't be without risk."_

"What are you talking about?" She hissed, ducking away from a barrage of assault rifle fire and crawling her way over to my hiding spot.

"A little magic trick I've been working on," I replied, looking her in the eye with a hint of discourage in my own. "A new level of Scorch; it's called Static. It's a charge of electricity that short-circuits up to five of them at once." She nodded sharply, understanding situation perfectly. I always suspected her to be one of the brighter people.

Thus, I wasn't surprised to hear her question.

"What's the catch?"

I looked away. "I... have to get within three feet of them for it to work. I'm still developing it."

Never failing to amaze me with her swift insight, she shot a quick glance at the enemies that were unmoving, rooted to their spot and cursed. "Five is the maximum?" I nodded solemnly. She cursed.

"So you want me to take the other five out."

I inwardly smirked. She caught on quick. "Positive."

"How do I know you'll actually take five of them?" I was slightly taken aback by the half-accusing look in her eyes. She noticed that I had said 'up to five', as well, just as I had expected. And the funny thing was that it was all according to plan.

I allowed the silence to linger for a few moments before returning her look with a sort of pleading reassurance. "Afraid you're gonna have to trust me."

Trust.

That word still had a disgusting ring to it, in my opinion. Especially when spoken by someone who doesn't live by its true meaning, in this case referring to myself.

Sakura hissed something I couldn't hear well, because one of the bots had recorded a disturbance in the scenery and opened fire. We instantly ducked for more cover, also being warped back to reality that we were on a time limit and didn't want to end up the joke of the Order. That would be too much for my already damaged ego to handle, even though I wouldn't admit that to save my life.

Ironically, it was also the one thing that I deserved most, if you would look deep inside my proud heart. I harmed a girl, and foremost an ally. But inflicting that shame on me would mean dragging Sakura along with me, and that would certainly destroy the flimsy remains of our friendship as it was.

I closed my mind off from any outside influences; the sound of gunfire, the smell of human sweat and gunpowder, the taste of adrenaline that ravaged my body. I dug deep for the source of my fire magic, the spark of focused human energy, the epicentre of magic in humanoid beings. Collecting all the energy I could spare, I could feel the heat of flames building up in every nerve. Instead of releasing it, I pushed myself to and maybe a few notches over the limit of human possibility. I wouldn't be able to keep it up for long, so now was the time.

In a flash, I opened my eyes and alerted my partner using my telepathic abilities that it was time. My heightened speed in combination with my trained senses allowed me to shadow-step into the middle of the circle of enemies, like an honest-to-goodness ninja. I clutched my gun tightly, and set off the built-up magical energy I had been drawing from. Discharging the electricity using the metal of my weapon, a shockwave of lightning erupted from my body, the burning sensation of magical electricity putting a strain on every fibre of my being. I couldn't see or feel much, as lightning numbed my senses, and would have blacked out if one thing didn't keep me up and running.

Sakura.

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Because I skipped the last deadline, here's a double chapter for you guys to enjoy. And I think apologies are in order as well, but I have been crazy busy with all kinds of school stuff. It's hell, and I laugh at the irony for my school being strict Christian. Oh well.

I'll _try_ to make next week, but I'm not gonna make any promises, got it? I can't promise shit, because I don't know how much work I have next week.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Fifteen  
><strong>_"Man is striving for peace through the acts of war..."_

* * *

><p>I didn't allow myself to disappoint her.<p>

I wouldn't allow the trust she placed in me to be abused again.

One, two, three, four, five, _six_ mechanical bodies twitched and overloaded, dropping down on the wooden floor with a dull 'clank'. A seventh seemed to slowly burn out, as smoke erupted from its 'head' when it turned to me.

"Fire at will!" I bellowed, but she was one step ahead of me. With an improved accuracy from the last time I saw her shoot (or the first time I really paid attention to it), Sakura fired four rounds and hit the four bots that were still moving.

I dropped to my knees for a second, keeping the rest of my body from collapsing with a shaking arm. The feeling of fire flowing though one's body was one thing, and took a certain amount of getting used to when I first developed it. Lightning was even harder to cope with.

It took me valuable seconds to get myself together, however still with a minor numbness in my limbs and torso. I could feel my heart nearly beating through my chest.

Sakura walked up to me, impossible to read. I warily looked at her as she stopped two steps away from me, crossing her arms and fixing a glare on me. I frowned.

"Liar."

My heart skipped a beat, and my eyes widened. "E-Excuse me?" I even stuttered. Sasuke Uchiha was stuttering.

"You lied to me, Uchiha."

"How did I lie to you?" I asked frantically, the horrifying panic striking me and effectively killing the numbness that I completely forgot about in the first place.

Then she smirked. "You said your maximum was five. You took out six."

I blinked. "Wha-" I then remembered explaining my attack to her. She started to giggle.

"You should've seen your face, priceless!"

I glared at her and brushed it off as a setback of pushing myself too far using Static, while in reality I was happy that I'd been able to bring that smile back to her face. That was also the only reason I could think of as to why the technique worked so much better than in my practices.

I never managed to get past four, and initially lied about being able to take out five. It was out before I noticed, hence my shocked reaction. The reason that I stretched my limit by two was a fact that I could only explain by my refusal to fail Sakura again.

The two of us made our way to the end at double pace, using my eyes and telepathy to give her a constant feed of the enemy's positions. It was harder to track those robots because they didn't have a life force, but using the other trait of superior reflections proved almost as effective. Besides, it wasn't like she was completely relying on me when it came to picking targets. She was far from that damsel in distress that needed other people to depend on.

She delivered a clean headshot to what looked like the last of the opponents, unable to hide the accomplished smirk that brightened her face. I smiled. God, I had missed that smile. We walked to the end section, where Jiraiya clocked our time. He looked content with our progress.

Back in the lobby, several people ran over to congratulate us on our superior display of skill. I smirked and couldn't help the witty remarks, even though I was basically playing with fire after what happened. It was a good thing that Sakura and I were on speaking terms again, somewhat friendly even.

I got offered a beer by Kiba, who was still "amazed by the teamwork you pulled off with someone you hate". I was about to remind him that Sakura was the one hating _me_ (and the entire Order with her, for that matter) when Jiraiya returned with the results. One look in his eyes revealed the burst of pride that ran through the old master of the Order, despite his attempts to hide it. I smirked.

"Dear brothers and sisters, let me start with stating that I am absolutely delighted with the diplay of skill you showed me today." The proud smirk was evident on his wrinkled face. "I owe all of you a big compliment. There is a lot of potential in some of you, while others remain at the top of their game."

"Cut the crap, gramps!" Naruto yelled. Some people snickered, and Jiraiya feigned a hurt expression. He sighed.

"As some of us lack the dignity and patience to listen to the wise words of a veteran -" Naruto rolled his eyes, "- the results of our live battle drill are as follows." He pulled out a digital notepad and cleared his throat.

"All of you made it in under seven minutes. That alone is worth mentioning. Even those with less combat and/or assassination experience still proved worthy of carrying our Black Rose." Jiraiya gave the group an approving smile. "The fastest, however, were Kakashi Hatake and his partner, Deidara."

I looked down, feeling defeated.

In the end, I did let Sakura down.

As expected, Itachi and Kurenai made a close second place. I had stopped caring though, after the announcement that my masked mentor had won. Empty words were all that I had given her, after what happened. I didn't know if what I felt was shame or self-loathing, all I knew was that it hurt. And it hurt bad.

Somewhere in the distance, I heard Jiraiya announce our names. I didn't bother trying to find out what he was talking about until I felt a small hand on my shoulder. It sent odd sparks of positive emotions throughout my body, and I looked up into these brilliant emeralds, those captivating gems that burned with joy.

Sakura.

"We made the third spot! We were only three seconds behind Itachi!"

I was surprised, to say the least. With wide eyes, I tried to grasp the excitement she was feeling. And failed to do so, ultimately. Then reality struck me.

We made third in an extremely difficult excercise, close after the two best assassins the world knew and their partners. That was a hell of a reason to be excited. Carefully, I allowed a smirk to play with my lips. Several people were congratulating us.

I looked at Sakura again, the overjoyed happiness rubbing off on me, and before I knew it she flung her arms around my neck and crush-hugged me. Awkwardly returning it, I allowed myself to smile. I refrained from asking if I was forgiven. The look in her eyes told me enough.

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Look. I know it's not much. It's just a quick update, I promise I'll try harder next time. Just deal with it, I'll have a week off of school in two weeks.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter Sixteen**  
><em>"When a man lies, he murders some part of the world."<em>

* * *

><p>Ever since the time trial Jiraiya had invented, a new wave of people trying to beat the previous record with their own emerged. Soon, Kakashi's and Deidara's 6:24 was shattered by Naruto and I, Itachi and Kakashi, Kiba and Suigetsu, Naruto, Sakura and I, and Itachi and Kakashi, in that order. The two top dogs held the record for the course on four minutes and fifty-two seconds, with the three-man slot of our own coming in two seconds behind that.<p>

In reality, all it really was was a battle for the second place. Jiraiya's name still proudly shone on the top, displaying a stunning two-minute twenty. He refused anyone to tell how he'd done it, but Intel was certain that it was legit. Hence why people stopped fighting for it. As a wise man once said: 'do not act in haste, for haste leads to failure.'

My reunion with Sakura had been awkward in the first few days, but she grew on me as fast as she did on our first encounter. Joking, laughing, practicing, eating, shooting, killing, hunting and studying with each other, Naruto and Sakura were both steady factors in my life that kept the inhuman pressure of assassin life on a doomed planet from driving me insane.

Slugging Sakura in the gut did provide its perks, though. Itachi, Kakashi, and pretty much the rest of the Order had dropped all rumors of something going on between me and the pink-haired powerhouse. Although I was still unsure whether that was a good or a bad thing.

Then again, I was quite sure that it dropped the chances of ever becoming more than friendship, as well. Which also could both be a good or a bad thing. Either way, I was glad that our friendship was somewhat patched up at least.

"Hey, Teme, would you stop sulking for once and help me?" Naruto practically yelled. He was carrying five huge crates of supplies, balancing all of them on top of each other. I shook my head and got up with a small smile.

"Seriously, Dobe, you're the dumbest person I've ever met." I took two crates from him, and noticed how heavy they were. Wondering for a second how he ever managed to drag five of them in, I quickly reached the conclusion that he was using his magic to alter the weight of the boxes.

"Shut up, prick, and make yourself useful." The blonde smirked at me with that friendly glint in his blood red eyes. Sakura, turning a corner at that moment, took another crate from him. We each went our seperate ways (the boxes I carried were labeled for the kitchen and Intel) and met back up in the lobby thirty minutes later. We chatted about the latest contracts, bragged about personal records and discussed magic.

Our downtime didn't take long. Kakashi popped his head around the doorframe and called us over. "I have received a peculiar request that I want the thoughts of our dream team on," he said. Smirking, I rolled my eyes.

"Dream team, my ass. You want us to run an extremely risky errand again, don't you."

"Actually, there _is_ a contract that I want your thoughts on," Kakashi said sternly while whirling around in his office chair and handing each of us a copy of what seemed like an ordinary assassination request.

Naruto, however, frowned more and more as he progressed throughout the description, crumbling the piece of paper and throwing it across the room by the end of it. Sakura was too horrified to speak. I tried to keep my cool the best as I could as I turned back to Kakashi.

"What's the meaning of this?" I quickly skimmed the paper for the line I wanted our superior to explain. "This... _'possessed by an evil presence' _crap. Explain yourself, Kakashi."

"That's why it's peculiar. I doubt it's true, but there's no other reason stated why he'd want the dude dead."

"Superstition?" Sakura asked. The look in Kakashi's eyes said more than a thousand words.

It was up to us to find out.

"Itachi and I would be checking it out ourselves, and I hate having to send you in. But there are urgent matters at Point Blank that need our full attention." Point Blank was the code name for the base that we had besieged seemingly eternities ago. The latest findings indicated that Moon's Eye activities had significantly increased in the area, and that several of Deidara's clay puppets had stopped responding. Rumors instantly spread that they were planning an assault for repossession.

I nodded sharply and looked at Naruto. I hated having to do this to my friend, because the agony of living as a demon host was made painfully clear. And that was not something he liked to be mocked with, though certain close friends made an exception to that rule.

"Whoever this cockface is, I'm tearing him a few new holes to breathe through," the blonde snarled, baring his fangs. I placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. It wasn't really helping.

He shrugged my hand off his shoulder and strode out, slamming the door so hard that it nearly busted off its hinges. Sakura jumped at the noise, but I suspected this was more due to Naruto's anger than anything else.

I felt Kakashi's eyes prying in my face, and turned around to face him once more. Taking a deep breath, I cocked my head. "We'll do it. I'll talk to Naruto."

"I knew you wouldn't let us down," Kakashi sighed, relieved that this sensitive situation was in capable hands (all modesty aside). I grabbed a pen from his desk and signed the paper, accepting the reward that came with it. It was unusually high. Someone really wanted this dude out of the way.

I turned to Sakura. "Get enough medical supplies and anything you might need," I ordered. She nodded nervously. I could sense the anxiety that stained the air. She was worried about Naruto, and was about to ask if he would be doing fine when I silenced her before she even started. "Naruto will be mine to deal with. Do not worry about him."

"If there's anything I can do -"

"Go prepare for our mission. I know my friend, I'll talk to him about it."

"Sasuke -"

"For fuck's sake, Sakura, I'm worried too, okay? There, I said it," I snapped. She was slightly startled, but could read in my eyes that it was for a good reason. I grabbed both her shoulders and squeezed them, forcing her to look at me. My voice turned soft and compassionate, a rare trait coming from me. "Naruto is my best friend. I don't want to put him through more pain than he already goes through. Trust me, okay?" She gulped and nodded. That word was still thin ice between the two of us.

"Yeah. Okay."

"Thank you." I let go of her shoulders. "We're setting out tomorrow at eight AM sharp."

In the end, I found Naruto shooting his frustrations away at the practice range. He could feel me coming, and didn't look up. I watched him complete his session in silence, and it was only after the last bullet was fired that he started to talk.

"I don't know if I can do it, Sasuke."

I didn't react immediately. I had anticipated this type of argument, and wasn't surprised when I turned out to be correct. I shifted my back to the range and leaned to a post. "Explain."

Naruto shot me a dark look. "A demon host? Really? I'm supposed to kill probably the only one to ever really understand me?"

"Kakashi already said that it's probably bullshit," I countered effortless. Naruto rolled his eyes, the darkness of his feelings painfully clear in them.

"Come on, Sasuke, you of all people should've caught that that was just to comfort me." It was true. I had caught that pretty much the second Kakashi had said it, but I didn't want to admit that in Naruto's face. He didn't leave me much choice, however. Defeated, I sighed and let a silence drop for a second.

"...True."

Naruto sneered. His curiosity was clashing with his conscience, his soul in conflict with the demon's. Having to choose between two options equally evil - Torn between Scylla and Charybdis. He put away his gun and turned his back on me, staring at the rack of weapons that were put on display in the practice room without seeing anything. His voice was raspy and weak. "It talks to me."

I looked up. The demon talked to him? "What does it say?"

"Usually, it's just mocking our kind," Naruto replied, blank of any emotion. "It insults our lack of insight, our arrogance, our vain attempts to control nature, our instinctive power fetish, our -"

"I get it," I interrupted with a sigh following suit. Demons. What a bother. "Does it ever say anything useful?"

"Sometimes," the blonde shrugged. "Aside from the control of dark energy, it helps me with my magical abilities. It tells me what combat skills I have to improve, and provides new ideas."

I nodded slowly. So the demon talked to its host, and gave it pointers to make him a better warrior, a better assassin. This was certainly a development that I had to keep an eye out for, to make sure that the man in front of me wouldn't be consumed by the demon that inhabited him. My eyes pried into the back of his head, the familiar dual life force flickering inside. "Can you conversate with it?"

Naruto nodded without a word escaping his mouth. I could tell that this wasn't the direction he had wanted our conversation to go, and I loathed myself for having to do something like this to my best friend, my brother in arms. And in that sense, I was sure that he would one day understand, when both looking back on it while enjoying a cold beer and a good steak (that is, if we would both live to see that day, which was such an obvious condition that it rarely needed mentioning).

"Have you asked it for its opinion?" I pressed on, needing all my determination to stop myself from breaking stuff as I watched Naruto bite his lower lip.

"He..." The host swallowed. His voice completely broke down, as if he was fighting back tears. I ignored the fact that the blonde addressed his tenant with 'he' instead of 'it'. After a long pause, Naruto raised his head and continued.

"He says there actually are more of his kind."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Started school again. This is all I really got done in my vacation. Which could barely be called a vacation in the first place, because I have been crazy busy. Sigh. The life and times of a nineteen-year-old. By the way, I'm getting better at this cliffhanger thingy.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter Seventeen**

_"Who made us gods and gave us the right to take life from our brothers and sisters?"_

* * *

><p>"He says there are more demonic souls trapped in human bodies, co-existing with their souls. He..." Naruto gulped again. "His story sounds legit, Sasuke."<p>

The thoughtful frown on my face had made way for an expression of surprise and shock. That explained everything: the blonde's hesitation to complete this contract, his certainty that the given information was valid, the curiosity to meet this person. Everything made sense all of a sudden.

It also greatly complicated matters. Our contract had stated to kill this person, whoever - or whatever - he was. Failing this would not only mean forfeiting the reward, but also damaging the reputation of the entire Black Rose.

I was tempted to take someone else, and leave Naruto out of this terrible situation. But I also didn't want to deny him the chance to meet someone sharing his fate. Then again, this operation wasn't about Naruto's feelings or mine, but about the future of the Order. But Naruto was my friend.

Dilemma: should you take your best friend on a mission to kill a demon host just like him, and endanger the future of many?

Naruto provided the answer. "I wanna go."

I blinked in surprise. "Why the sudden change of heart?" I inclined, warily eyeing my friend. He took a few deep breaths as he pulled himself together.

"I want to be part of this mission," he stated clearly, the determination sparking in his eyes. "But on one condition."

"Let's hear it," I said beckoning him to continue.

"I want to talk to this guy. I want to share experiences. When I'm done or if he turns hostile, you can do as you please."

I shook the blonde's hand. "Deal."

Quickly slipping Kakashi a mental heads-up, I left Naruto to tend to his anger management and set off to meet Tenten in the weapons department. I was slightly on edge; after all, the last time I encountered Tenten, she had nearly impaled my face to a wall with a throwing knife. However, since I made up with Sakura, we were back on friendly terms even though we barely really knew each other. From a professional point of view I respected her abilities, but we have never really talked outside the armory.

The bun-headed girl greeted me with a sickly sweet smile, which I _knew_ could only mean trouble. I warily raised one eyebrow when she made her way over to me. "You, mister Uchiha, are going to _love _me. Come here." She latched onto my left arm, ignored my protests and dragged me toward what seemed like a surgery table for weapons. On display lay my trusted high-caliber sniper rifle, and in all honesty I barely recognized it.

"Is that..." My voice died out as I looked up at the girl with horror in my eyes.

She nodded happily. "Yep. That's your CheyTac Intervention M-200T. It's an unofficial redesign of your original M-200 model."

I sweatdropped. "If that T is standing for what I _think_ it stands for, I am going to _murder_ you," I hissed through my teeth. She just smirked brighter.

"If you were thinking 'Tactical', then you were correct. Although I'd like to see you try to lay a hand on me." I fixated a glare on her accomplished face and sighed. Tenten took this as a sign to start her explanation of everything she did with my precious sniper.

"So anyway. The CheyTac .408CT Intervention M-200T is basically a compact fold-up long range sniper rifle, with integrated suppressor and specially designed trigger that allows the user to channel his magic through the rifle more easily. It comes with standard single-fire mode, burst fire and should the situation ask, also allows the user to place these specially designed assault rifle clips into the rifle and switch to full auto mode." She crossed her arms, content with her achievements, and watched my stunned face before it returned to my usual stoic composure. "It took me some time to figure out, but I think it should work."

"...How did you - ...?"

"Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies, my friend." She handed my rifle to me. "Get used to it and amaze friend and foe. Spread the word!"

I shook my head, both amused and amazed. "You're insane." She just smiled sweetly again. I picked up the rifle and unfolded it; it had retained its familiar, reliable size and weight that I got used shooting with. Tenten pointed me to the lock that kept the rifle from collapsing when firing. Still admiring her handiwork, I turned around to find Sakura in Meds & Research to check up on the medical supplies.

As if on cue, Sakura popped her head around the door. "I had a hunch you'd be here," she chirped. "Come on, Tsunade hooked us up with a scoop."

"I don't know if I can handle more shocking news," I joked while bidding Tenten farewell. Sakura ignored my comment and pulled out a syringe, apparently expecting me to react to it.

Three seconds passed. I raised one eyebrow. "That's a syringe."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "No shit, Sherlock. I can see it's a syringe."

"Well how am I supposed to know what's with it?" I sneered. She silenced me with a glare and explained.

"This is a stimulant that gives the user a 24-hour immunity to any kind of exhaustion." She opened her mouth again to give me all the medical details, but I cut her off before she even started by placing my index finger on her lips.

"Sakura, I'm not a doctor. Spare me the details."

She looked disappointed. "Fine. Tsunade came up with it after Kiba asked if she could design a drug that prolonged the effects of his immunity boost that comes with full moon. Then she and I tweaked it to make it work on humans as well."

I smirked and coincidentally spotted Kiba walking out of the refectory. "Hey, Inuzuka, thanks for stealing my idea, asshole," I yelled smirking. The werewolf smirked back and flipped me off before making his way to his dorm. Sakura waved her hand in front of my face to draw my attention back to her. "Sorry," I said quickly and looked her in the eye. "What's the difference in effect between werewolves and humans?"

"Aside from the fact that it works for three days when applied to werewolves and only one when applied to humans, none," Sakura shrugged. I nodded and took the syringe from her. Intending to test the effects for myself, I placed the tip of the needle on my skin and was about to sink it into my vein when it was snatched from me by Sakura.

"This is the only sample," she explained as a reply to my accusing look. "We need to analyze it to reproduce it."

"Right," I sighed. She poked my forehead as if she was scolding me, giggled at my expression and made off, back towards the medical lab. I stared at her disappearing figure for a second, before pulling myself together and getting up to make some last-minute preparations. This included taking a thirty-minute shower.

To me, like cleaning guns, showering was a balm of the soul. It felt like the hot water washed away the troubling thoughts, the disturbing experiences and the horrifying images that had been burned into my mind. The feeling of purification afterwards was a welcome one for people like me. The wicked takers of life. The rancid angels of demise. The withering black rose that spelled your impending doom. Hence the name. I shook the countless drops of fresh water out of my hair like a dog and left it in a messy bunch, but I didn't care. Grabbing a book on Elementals that I had took from our archives, but never got the chance to read so far, I dropped down on my bed and started to read up on essential knowledge.

The next thing I noticed was a strong bang on the door of my room, in a certain pattern that I recognized as Naruto's. That, and the blonde was probing my mind with loud thoughts. I groaned and got up, the book that I had fell asleep reading last night falling to the floor with a dull thud. I glared at the blonde and greeted him, immediately asking for the time. 6 AM sharp.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, quickly washed and dressed, and walked out while placing my gun in its holster and swinging my leather duster over my shoulder. Naruto shook his head, voiced his repulsion of the worn coat and asked why I kept it around for so long. I shrugged.

In reality, I didn't exactly know the reason why I kept the duster either. It didn't really serve a purpose, after all: it was too worn to keep the wind from biting at my flesh and too shabby to really make a fashion statement. On the other side, it bore the scars of many a memorable contract. It had been the only witness of all my perfect assassinations. A real museum piece, in short. Still, it fit perfectly and it made me feel the slightest bit more comfortable (as far as that was possible). To me, it was like a suit of armor was to a knight. It represented safety, reminded me of a place that could possibly be referred to as 'home'.

Sakura was already waiting for us in the lobby. Her medical pouch casually hung on her lower back, about two inches below the seams of her studded leather jacket. Knives were hidden in her black knee-high boots. The unruly amount of fake bullets that hung from her belt that held up her acid-washed skinny jeans had been carefully moved to make place for her hip holster, carrying her trusted handgun. A cracked fallen angel was featured on her gray tank top. A thin line of black deepened her eyes. And I had a hard time taking my own eyes off her.

_Damn_, she was pretty.

She placed a hand on her hip and smiled us a good morning. Naruto returned the favor with his trademark lazy grin. I in turn acknowledged her presence with a small nod.

Naruto, being our personal Hulk, took it upon himself to carry our camping and food supplies. Forming a hand seal, the bags lit up briefly before the blonde picked them up to test the weight. He dropped them back on the floor soon after, before making our way to get breakfast and prepare for probably one of the more dangerous missions in our careers.

The sun was crawling up the horizon, bathing us in piercing light. The autumn breeze ruffled my hair, leaving it more messy than it already was. I stole a glance at Sakura from the corner of my eye. Her jaw was set, her breaths were unruly, and she was biting the corner of her lip. The tension radiated off her entire being. A small snicker escaped my mouth, and without even fully realizing it I wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She looked up, astounded, but seemed more at ease with someone close by.

"Sasuke? Are we going to be okay?"

This was the first time I heard genuine worry in her voice. It scared me, actually. Knowing that she was more concerned with the emotional well-being of the man that walked in front of us than our physical safety, I looked down.

"Do you want me to answer that truthfully, or do you want me to tell you what you want to hear?"

My voice had been dark, and that had a reason. No, I didn't think Naruto was coming out of this one without a few emotional and mental traumas. We'd be there to catch the remains of his shattered soul, yes. That's what friends are for. But I had my doubts that we would be able to put it back together, let alone help him become stronger. He had insisted to go through with it, though, even though I had allowed him many opportunities to back out.

Sakura dropped the matter, a hint of sadness washing over her features as she looked at the blonde, and rested her head on my shoulder. I felt her pain, the yearning to comfort our friend and help him through whatever it was his near future held.

I tried to make small talk with the demon host, asking him about his thoughts on my new Static ability and similar insignificant questions. He just grunted here and there, and soon I gave up trying. He resorted to himself, and most likely, the demon. The silence that the absence of his usual behavior left was uncomfortable, to say the least, and even though his hyperactive antics usually irked me, I did actually miss the comic relief he provided.

We traveled for several hours, before arriving in a small village. The acrid smell of suffering polluted the air that we inhaled. Bodies were stacked along both sides of the road, some even impossible to identify as human. Warily eyeing Naruto, I didn't even have to look into his mind to know that we were both thinking the same thing. Whoever this guy was, the story about the demon was as real as possible.

We made our way to an inn, where we booked three rooms and dropped our supplies. Naruto instantly locked himself in his room and refused to come out for the rest of the day, leaving me with Sakura. Not that I minded having some time alone with the pinkette; things were just... a bit awkward, still. We strolled around for a bit, checking out a few stores here and there, before deciding to get some lunch at the saloon and do a little recon of the area. We kept our eyes open for anyone behaving out of the ordinary at all times.

The village was barely worth the title. Most people resided in primitive, little huts of junk and rubble, without any form of sanitary or electrical facilities. The few that had fate on their side had opened stores for travellers, selling virtually everything ranging from weapons to postcards. Poverty was the least of hardships the citizens of this village had to endure, however. Crime was plentiful; robbery, assault, arson and homocide adorned the busy streets with little resistance.

Sakura stopped at what appeared to be a lingerie store. I rolled my eyes, voicing my thoughts on the futility of pretty underwear on a deadly assassination mission. She just shooed me off.

"Just let a girl do what she has to do," she said. I sighed, annoyed, and walked over to one of the many weapons stands in the vincinity. This particular one specialized in all sorts of ammunition, from incendiary to explosive to nuclear. Eventually learning that the desired caliber for my sniper rifle was out of stock, I left and was about to go into a bookstore when Sakura returned. She was smirking slyly, immediately catching my interest. Putting the pieces together, I frowned.

"Naruto won't be distracted by a half-naked girl on his doorstep, Sakura."

She glared at me and refused to tell me her intentions. "And don't try to pull your little mind-reading trick." I was about to respond by clarifying how only the thoughts of a person whose mind I infiltrated became audible to me, but I really didn't feel like starting a pointless argument over such a trivial matter.

Letting it slide, we returned to the inn and retreated into our respective rooms. Tonight, blood was going to flow. The wind brushed the trees as raindrops started pattering against the glass; an ode to the bloodshed that crept closer, a ballad for the lives that will be lost. I rested my head on the thin pillow and closed my eyes, soon being encased by the natural iron maiden of unconsciousness.

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><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Here's the latest installment. I am still figuring out whether or not to post the next one, because what I have planned is... well. I'm not going to tell any more. It's going to take a few weeks anyway, because with my schedule, keeping my updates even remotely frequent is damn near impossible.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen**

_"Lust's passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes."_

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><p>My head pounded and I winced, a groan escaping my mouth as I tried to bite the pain away on my lower lip. It was dark; everything I could see was utter darkness, void of any shape, form or any other identifyable object. I found this extremely peculiar. It couldn't be that late - we set out at eleven-thirty, I couldn't have have overslept. I opened my eyes, but the darkness didn't clear an inch. I blinked a few times, and gasped.<p>

My eyesight was gone.

Intending to rub my eyes out, I noticed that my hands were chained to the posts of the bed with what sounded like extremely sturdy handcuffs. I rattled the shackles, trying in vain to break free, when I really started to panic a bit. What the hell was happening?

The sound of high heels on old wood snapped through the room like a gunshot. Unable to see, I snarled in random directions and started rattling the cuffs again. Someone - or some_thing_ - was making its way over to me. I couldn't tell if it was male, female or even human; a fact that both greatly angered and terrified me. Whoever it was, they managed to get into my room, drug me, chain me and disable my eyesight possibly forever, without my knowledge of any of those events.

The intruder stopped walking around. I quickly got my scrambling mind together and activated my enhanced genes, the familiar blue fire that represented the life force of organic creatures appearing about ten feet from where I was. I couldn't address any shape to the intruder, but at least I knew where they were and when they moved. That, and my eyes in general weren't the ones failing me, as much as it was my ability to see. Somehow, the intruder noticed that I activated the genetic advancement in my brain and moved again. She (by now I was pretty sure that she was female, judging from the distinctive sound of high heels) walked over to me and stopped two feet in front of me.

"What do you want?" I growled. I was met with silence. The snarl on my face grew graver as I tried to lash out, stopped by the oddly strong chains. Groaning in frustration, I gave another enraged tug at the iron that refused to budge. "I asked _what d- _"

I was silenced by a gentle finger that pressed against my lips. Somehow, I felt that she was close.

Hair brushed my cheek as she leaned over me and moved her mouth to my ear. She stopped an inch away from it. "Sshhhh," a soft voice said in a husky whisper.

Her breath caressed the sensitive skin of my neck, sending shivers of tension and some form of excitement down my entire body. It covered my arms and neck in goosebumps as I hissed in suspense. The faint smell of roses and spring and cherries invaded my nostrils, driving me crazy even more. Realization hit me.

"Sakura?"

The girl stepped away from me again, the fire of her life force moving to the back of the room (based on my assumptions). She appeared to walk around to the other side of the bed, the sound of her heels breaking the silence in the room once more. I had a huge weak spot for high heels, and whoever she was, she was very close to making my lose my mind. I could only imagine her sexy legs march around, her hips swaying, her eyes tempting...

The right side of the bed bent to the weight of her body crawling onto it. I felt her hands trace my arms, her knees placing themselves on each respective side of my pelvis. Her womanhood hovered inches above the quite active bob in my own boxers.

"Sakura?" I repeated. "What are you doing?"

She leaned over to me again, her lips brushing my own as she started to whisper-talk to me. "Let's play a little game..."

I gulped. "What are you doing?" My vocabulary knew little range in this particular state of mind. She just shushed me again.

"Trust me..."

The sound of a keyring clinking stilled my heavy breaths in my throat. "Don't linger, Sasuke..."

The shuffling sound of something being stuffed away somewhere was heard. She didn't reply to my many inquiries on what she had done to my eyes or how she got in my room. She kept shushing me every time I tried to voice a question, and based on the senses that did work, she was quite close to my face. Unable to resist the smell and her tempting giggle any longer, I went for her neck. I was met with thin air and a stern clack of Sakura's tongue. "Don't break the rules. Don't disappoint me."

"How am I -" I started, before it all fell into place. I was to find the key that opened to locks to my cuffs, without touching her in any way possible. I had to follow her orders blindly, literally blindly, and keep myself in tow to refrain from giving in to the ultimate temptation: Sakura Haruno.

This was her way of putting my reliability to the test.

I smirked. Slowly going in closer, inch by inch, i stopped approximately five milimeters from her skin. I could feel every twitch of her body in the air, the strong smell of her cherry spring rose perfume penetrating my very sanity. But I couldn't let her down.

Using my nose and lips to maneuver my way over what appeared to be her chest, I ended up finding the keys tucked away in between her breasts, kept in place by her bra. I bit down on the cold steel of the keyring and pulled them out, her sly smirk almost audible. Gently lifting them from my grip, she nibbled on my earlobe for a moment before falling into her husky whisper again. "Good boy, Sasuke..."

I felt her hands trace the shape of my toned arms and stop at the sturdy wrist iron. It was a matter of seconds before my left arm was free, and it took me all my willpower not to pull the girl on top of me in a death-grip and fondle every curve, caress every inch of her silky skin, and kiss every ounce of her lustful lips. I let my arm drop and rest on the bed, slightly tingling from the lack of blood and thus, the lack of oxygen in my muscles. After a minute, she took my arm and placed my hand on her chest, dead center, an inch above her breasts. Her soft palms forced me to remain still, didn't allow my hand to wander her body and explore the many, many perfections.

"Don't linger," she whispered again, the sexy giggle that sent shivers down my spine following suit. She nipped my lower lip, preventing me from biting it, and released my hand.

Having put her words and the purpose of this game to thought, I had reached the conclusion that I was supposed to find those keys again, only this time using my hand. I couldn't linger or caress any part of her body for longer than she deemed necessary, though, so the moment she let go of my hand, I started tracing the currents of her body with a feathery touch. It sent a sparking sensation throughout both her body and my own.

I traced the form of her breasts, not lingering a second longer despite the aching thought to do so, down to her abdomen and her hips. My fingers touched the seam of her underwear, and for a moment, I hesitated. She had said 'don't linger', but did that mean I could just roam her body and feel her up everywhere?

Apparently, I could. While skipping the border from skin to lace, I felt the familiar keyring tucked away in her underwear. I tried to maneuver my way in as discreetly as possible and lifted the keys from their hiding place in moments. The familiar giggle escaped her mouth again, having turned into both the anthem of my triumph and the symphony of my destruction. Again, she praised me, and rewarded me by releasing my other arm and a slight kiss on the lips.

Now freed, the urge to take her into my arms and never letting her go again grew twice as hard to resist. My fingers were twitching, and I had to grip the sheets and bite my lip until I drew blood to keep myself from doing something extremely stupid and ruining everything.

Now tracing kisses up to my ear, she kissed a speck of blood from my lips and appeared to lick her own. I heard the familiar shuffle in the air and the even more familiar husky whisper soon after. "Close your eyes," she ordered me with a chaste kiss. I complied, not really knowing what the difference was between seeing nothing and... well, seeing nothing. "And don't peek," she added. I then felt her petite form crawling off of me, and heard the arousing sound of her heels on wood again, before I collected the courage to ask her once again.

"What did you do to my eyes?"

"Nothing, really." She answered, or even acknowledged my ability to speak, for the first time. "Just a little medical spell..."

That giggle really drove me crazy with lust.

A strange warmness washed over my forehead, and all kinds of colors danced before my eyes. I felt dizzy, and rubbed my temples now that I was able to. My wrists felt quite rough, I noticed, a burning feeling spreading in the places where skin had collided with hard, cold metal. I ran a hand through my hair for the hell of it, and took a few deep breaths to soothe my impatience.

"Open your eyes..."

I complied.

What I saw completely blew my mind.

Sakura Haruno was officially the most tempting, sexy, and absolutely _stunning _female in Sasukeland.

I gave her a once-over, my jaw dropped as far as it would without completely falling off. The five-inch black suede stiletto pumps graced her feet, with black opaque nylon hold-up stockings wrapping around her slender legs that seemed to go on forever. Her black lace thong was set with a black rose print, a matching bra covering her breasts. Mischief and innocence battled for possession of her eyes, both locked in an eternal paradox that seemed to fit the pink-haired nineteen-year-old perfectly.

Those _eyes_.

Capable of driving any man to the brink of sanity, her eyes were most definetely the most amazing about her. She didn't even need magic to charm me; one look in those evergreen gems of promise, hope and good fortune were enough to turn me into a mess of emotions and desires.

Sakura walked over to the bed and crawled on top of me again, her hands worming their way up to mine and pinning them to the wall behind my head again. Her sly smile was contagious, as I myself mimicked the movement perfectly. For seconds, she lingered, like a lioness stalking her prey, like a succubus about to kill. The sensation of her half-naked form pressing down on my bare torso, the feeling of her breath caressing my lips, the aching of unchained, uncontrollable emotions ravaging my soul. It was enough to completely annihilate any sense of rational thought I had left.

Then she struck.

Swift as a snake delivering the fatal blow to an unsuspecting victim, her lips crashed onto mine, the sexual tension that had nearly burst out of the room finally coming to an eruption. Hands were everywhere; there was no telling what hands belonged to who, and whose lips were kissing whose. Even in this rollercoaster of lust we battled, our urge to best the other forever burning passionately.

Because that's what it was. It was lust; an uncontrollable desire for a little piece of heaven amidst the hell and death and agony we both incepted and harvested. A little reminder of what it was to be human instead of the archangels of demise. Of course, on my part, there may have been a few seeds planted for something more than that, but for now, it was nothing but feeling human. Getting a sense of what it was like before we nuked our own future.

Eventually both giving in to our need for oxygen, we broke apart, staring into each other's eyes as if eternity would reveal itself there. At some point, I had rolled on top of her, giving me the edge and eventually, victory. I smirked in my trademark, self-assured manner and stole a kiss, which she allowed hesistantly. She grinned, answering my smirk. I rested my head on hers, our foreheads connecting as if we could mingle our minds into one super-being.

"To what do I own the pleasure, miss Haruno?"

She licked her lips, preying mine again just like she had an undefined amount of time before. The innocent look turned out the stronger one, as it came fairly close to illuminating my features with a deathly sweet glance of sugary glee. She giggled again (_God_, I had to strain myself from devouring her a second time) and licked her lips, pretending to think about it. "You did good on your test while you could've easily broken free and jump me?"

I had to process her words a second, before realizing that I could have just set the chains afire and melting them that same instant. Instead of telling her that, I decided to play along. "Well, I had something to make up for, after all," I replied, the smirk never leaving my face.

We didn't talk much after that, as our lips and bodies were preoccupied with other... activities, so to say, for the rest of the evening.

The clock read 10:30 PM when we woke up from Naruto busting the once-locked door off its hinges with a small new piece of magic he had been working on: Firestorm. The gust of compressed air effectively turned half of the room into chaos. He opened his mouth to say something, until his eyes connected with mine and drifted off to the girl in my arms, and in particular her stockinged legs and stiletto heels she had fallen asleep wearing.

His mouth formed a perfect circle, catching on to the fact that he was dead weight inside this room at this time amazingly fast, and scrambled in the doorway for a few seconds before he darted off, looking redder than I have ever seen him.

I looked at Sakura and smiled; a genuine smile of compassion that I saved for rare occasions like this one. Like _her._

Smiling back, she got up, ignoring the detail that the aforementioned stockings and shoes were in fact the only pieces of clothing she had on, and slowly walked over to the door. She placed it back in its frame, though unable or unwilling to repair it fully, and returned to the bed. She claimed my lips as her property once more, breaking off the kiss a few lousy minutes later. "Thanks for the amazing night," she whispered with a tiny, seductive wink. "We have a lot to discuss when we're done killing people."

I simply nodded, words escaping me as I started falling back into the daily routine of danger, gunpowder, blood and magic. I settled on a simple "thank _you_ for the amazing time, Sakura Haruno" and a long, passionate kiss, which seemed good enough for her.

She picked up her clothes, ones that I had been oblivious to being here in the first place (which wasn't really that hard, considering everything that had happened) and disappeared into the bathroom with another wink, condemning me to the deranged sink in the corner of the room. I watched her walk, never even having dared to dream that she could walk that gracefully in what could very well be the sexiest heels possible, and before I could even realize or stop it, I had forced my thoughts into her head.

_"You should wear those more often."_

Stopping dead in her tracks, she turned around as I realized my mistake. I lowered my head in shame, having invaded her thoughts and forcing mine into her head all over again. She just giggled, though, and I jerked my head back up to face her, eyes wide. The sly smile on her face said more than a thousand words.

"You would like that, wouldn't you, mr. Uchiha?" she purred. I blinked as she turned around again, retreating into the bathroom and taking my silence for a yes.

Right before closing the door, she peeped her head around the doorframe. "If you like it that much, I guess I can do you a favor..." She blushed slightly. "Consider yourself lucky, you're the first guy that got me as far as wearing high heels for them in the first place." She winked and closed the door, leaving me in a state of shock, amazement and pure bliss.

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

...

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen**

_"Bodies filled the fields I see; the slaughter never ends..."_

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><p>Naruto, having been silent and to himself for pretty much our entire trip, was back to his usual self at least temporarily, which was really a good thing. Life wasn't the same without the gullible idiotic demon host around. The 'idiot' had been a stereotype that had stuck to his presence ever since his younger years, even though he had far outgrown his stupidity over the years and lived to present himself as a formidable marksman and an even better combatant. Carrying a silenced assault rifle on his back, the blonde preferred verbal ammunition as he kept firing questions about her motives for choosing me over... other people (read: him). Sakura shot me a meaningful, mischievous look and didn't answer him, or very cryptically.<p>

"Fact remains that there's nothing really going on between us," I cut in. Naruto turned to stare at me, and was about to protest before I continued, shrugging. "I mean, yeah, we gave in to temptation and lust, does that mean we have to snog each other at every occasion now?"

These things were always very easy to discuss with Naruto, which came with the package when two males are best friends, I reckoned. Thankfully, Sakura didn't mind in the least. She had long since come to terms that women were primarily objects of desire to most men, and even though some prime exceptions were accompanying her, she had stopped fighting it. In her own right, she had quite a few juicy stories about some escapades with other girls and valuable tips on the matter of seduction. She enjoyed being talked about, appreciating the high regards we had for her looks and body instead of letting the diminishing thoughts of being used as a sex tool take over. Besides, she more or less knew that to me, it wasn't as much about sex as it was about sex with _her_.

Naruto flailed, snapping me out of my musings. "I thought you were immune to that!"

"Heh, sometimes I wish I was," I snorted. "But in this case I'm delighted that I'm still human enough, despite everything we do."

"Yeah, because living as a demon must be terrible," Naruto sneered cynically, rolling his eyes in the process. "I know a guy who can tell you exactly what it's like."

"Oh, come on, guys, stop it." Sakura stepped in between us. "Don't kill each other now. Save it for later."

We both nodded, exchanging a final glare that spelled peace, and went back to business. There was still a demon host with unknown potential that had a mark placed on his head, and we were here to collect that head of his and bring it back to Black Rose HQ.

Using my special eye power, we traced our target to a remote, barren field that had probably been used for bomb testing. There was one shack with a single pipe in the floor leading into the unknown, somewhere in the middle of the field. The wooden board that covered up the pipe was painted with a symbol that I swear I had seen before, but couldn't quite place. I ignored the nagging voice in my head, and prompted for Naruto to go first, explaining how he could land on the bottom without problems with his magic ability. I had a hunch that this black hole in front of us was quite the drop, and I wasn't sure how we were going to survive it. There seemed to be an inconvenient absence of any form of stairs, not even a ladder. This strengthened my suspicion that our target had the ability to fly or levitate, at least.

Naruto shot us both a last look before leaping into the unknown, falling for one, two, three seconds flat before we heard the dull thud of Naruto's weight landing on rock echo throughout the pipe.

"It's safe to jump, a magical barrier breaks your fall four feet off the ground."

This was my cue to drop. It was weird to experience thin air breaking your fall, making it feel like an abrupt stop on a rollercoaster. Sakura followed suit, brushing the dust off her jeans as I conjured a brilliant golden flame that could not set afire other objects or materials, thus leaving it extremely useful as guide light. I split the flame in three smaller ones, placing one on Naruto's shoulder and giving another to Sakura while keeping the third firmly in my other hand. The two both complimented my handiwork, and we proceeded to take in our surroundings.

We appeared to be in an underground lair of some creature, a pretty large one at that. I immediately scanned all the dark corners for any life force, but wasn't met with any response of bright blue flames aside from my partners'. Naruto nudged me and pointed to the only door.

In front of the door lay a humongous were-zombie, a werewolf that was zombified in his wolverine state, and a particularly big one at that. With the last remains of humanity drained the moment the broken soul passed on and a craving for both raw human flesh and brains, were-zombies were twice as ferocious and four times as ruthless as normal, living ones. We pulled our guns simultaneously, but the stillness of the beast awakened my curiosity. With my finger on the trigger, I warily crept closer to the undead mutant. I managed to get up to a foot close without getting any reaction out of it, and nudged it with my foot. Sakura gasped, Naruto snarled, and I froze.

Five seconds. Nothing happened.

Twenty seconds. Nothing happened.

Forty-five seconds. Nothing.

"This motherfucker is dead as can be," Naruto said walking up right next to me. Ignoring the pun, I nodded.

"Something's not right." I looked around once more, still finding that logo everywhere, that familiar logo that I knew from somewhere. "This looks like the visitor's entrance to an assassination HQ."

I felt both Naruto's and Sakura's prying eyes on me. I was certain that the room we were in was to scare off anyone who dared come to their base. It made sense; the leap of faith into the unknown made most people reconsider, and whoever did prove themselves foolish enough were torn to shreds by this monster. Until now, anyway. In the background, I heard Naruto voicing his thoughts on why they would kill their own guard dog, getting no response from anyone.

With combined effort, we shoved the rotting carcass of the dead zombie aside. A shallow ray of light fell on the logo on the door, answering my unvoiced question as to how they kept the werewolf exposed to moonlight (which was enough for were-zombies, as opposed to actual werewolves, to turn). I mentally slapped myself for not bringing Kiba along, as his knowledge of werewolves and the undead could turn out to prove very valuable. Then again, the werewolf prodigy had contracts to complete himself, and without the medical assistance Tsunade provided, his condition was too unstable to work with during the days around full moon.

Too bad the meds he used were very rare and had to be dosed by a professional...

Like Sakura.

Blast.

Shrugging it off as a matter of a past mistake that wasn't really a big deal to begin with, I focussed on the here and now. Naruto walked up to the door and rattled the doorknob. Nothing happened, as expected, for the door was sealed shut. A well-placed kick on the weak spot of the door had the same results, as did the old shoulder bash. Even my Scorch and Punishing Flame spells proved ineffective, as well as Sakura's Fracture, Disintegrate and Shatter charms.

With a last fruitless kick to the door, Naruto growled and took a few steps back. He spread his arms and took two deep breaths, eyes snapping open. "Tempestatibus flectere consilium meum! Mortale in nobis servis tuis adipiscing suffocant dolorem! Ignis negavit voluntas tua, praecipio tibi obedire Daemoniacus meam animam!"

The incantation was in Latin, the language of both heaven and hell, and it sent a hurricane of compressed air, razor-sharp circling winds and dark energy towards the door. It didn't stand a ghost of a chance, and was literally torn to pieces moments after impact. The Diabolic Storm Naruto had called upon put quite some strain on his muscles, but also ignited a form of bloodlust in his tainted soul. I witnessed his blood red eyes starting to glow crimson, his pupils turning to slits. He bared his fangs and roared, but took the reins of his half-demonic state soon after that. He did it off as a result of the dark energy he had sent flowing through his body.

I looked to Sakura and saw her discomfort with Naruto's state. Granted, it took some getting used to (the first time I had witnessed Naruto... 'transform' had nearly made me run to the edge of the world), but whatever he did, he was still in control of whatever misshapen excuse for a body he was attaining. Besides, she'd seen worse already. Beaming a non-verbal question on how she was faring with the whole deal in her direction, she gulped and nodded, reassuring me that she was going to deal with it one way or another. I smiled.

"That's the spirit."

She smiled back, though weak, and with my reassurance, she managed to pull through and keep the focus on our mission.

"Who are we looking for?" Naruto growled, his voice deeper and more malevolent than before.

"No picture was filed," I replied truthfully, adding that on to the list of odd details that seemed to surround this particular operation. "There is no way to know who our target is, aside from the evil presence part. Good thing I'm able to see those."

"We're close," Naruto snarled. "I can sense it. The _Beast_ can sense it."

"Does it have anything useful?" Sakura inquired, completely up to date with the newest developments in relation to Naruto's adjoined souls. Spending a night together didn't mean she could repress her insatiable curiosity in favor of desire. Slightly taken aback but soon catching on, Naruto shrugged.

"Just that we're close, and that we have little to worry about."

"Let's not address too much value to those words," I replied quickly, my partners agreeing with me. Trusting the words of a demon wasn't my idea of a good battle plan, after all, even though that demon inhabited my best friend.

A spark of white light flashed, blinding the three of us right at the moment we were about to set out on our hunt for this demon host. I was thrown into a wall with overwhelming force, knocking a great deal of air out of my lungs. The explosion left my ears ringing, and unable to distinguish any shape or form in the veil of white. I scrambled to my feet, having a hard time finding my balance, and found support on the very wall that had broken my flight. I held my head with one hand, shaking the light-headedness off and wincing in pain when putting some weight on one of my legs.

My ability to distinguish forms returned swiftly, and the first thing I saw was a long, shallow though very painful cut along my right calf. It was infused with dark energy, causing the feverish burn and scorch marks surrounding the area of the cut. Whoever did this was definetely a demon host, and since Naruto wasn't stupid enough to try to betray the Order...

Whoever did this was our guy.

Settling on resting my back to the wall and sitting on the floor, I pointed my gun that I found to my left at the man - or creature - in the middle of the room, assuming it was our assailant. My breathing was as if I had been hit with a sledgehammer to the chest. It probably wasn't far off, either. Gasping for fresh air, I could taste the evil intent in the atmosphere. Someone or something was out for blood, and I didn't intend on letting it have its way.

Collecting a huge chunck of my depleted strength, I pulled up my gun and squeezed the trigger. The shot cut through the air at blinding velocity, and impacted with my target less than a moment later. It was a well-placed shot, all modesty aside, and would have been an instant kill if not for the wall of dirt that hardened in my line of fire.

The demon host turned its attention from Sakura to me, and it wasn't pretty. He looked grotesque; his hair was blood red, wiry and greasy, droplets of blood leaking out of it. Strands of hair hung over his face and his eyes, making it hard to look into his sky blue orbs to see any emotion. The dark rings surrounding his eyes appeared to be natural, and solely from a prolonged lack of sleep that he had suffered from. His eyeteeth were more like fangs, just like Naruto's; much longer, stronger and sharper than ordinary human teeth. His hands had grown shells of hardened sand, making them razor-sharp claws, and a long, slinky tail grew from his tailbone. His clothes were hardly worth the definition, being little more than torn, bloody lumps of dirty fabric similar to an average vampire's garments. Something told me that the reason for the dead were-zombie at the front door was standing in front of me in all its deathly glory.

"Donec sicariorum?"

Naruto, being the only one capable of comprehending the language of the demons, nodded sharply. "Sane nos. Tu quis es?"

The man breathed heavily, and flashed something that appeared to be a sad smile. "Sed hostiae ordinantur te occidere." The look on Naruto's face said enough; this was definetely our guy. I was curious to what he had to say, but Naruto refused to let me look in his mind for a translation. It pissed me off, but I doubted I even _wanted_ to know what two demons could talk about aside from death, suffering, agony and solitude.

"Nosti nostra pactionis?" Naruto frowned. He repeated the question when the man didn't reply instantly.

"Nos autem, qui non dolore... Etiam nulla velit percipit in hoc mundo."

"Ut ligula!" Naruto snarled, not happy with what he was hearing. "Bello lacesseret es inter ordines!"

"Opus facere non possum me habere animam hanc bestiam! _Interficere_!" The man lunged at Naruto, ruthless, merciless and with a terrifying sort of grace. It was the beauty of combat, the beauty of death all assassins were taught to adore. The blonde dodged and countered, shoving his opponent in the same wall I had been thrown into.

Keeping him a few inches off the ground by his collar, he pressed his face to the other man's, forcing him to look him in the eyes. "_Nolo_ mihi dabis ut ante vitae ante!"

"Nescis quid a-" the man started, but Naruto interrupted him by punching him in the jaw. He let go of his collar, and the man collapsed to the floor in pure shock. I couldn't suppress a smirk. Leave it up to Naruto to refuse to back down from the most terrifying enemies.

"Quid de me sciam _maxime_!" the blonde roared, his eyes erupting the red glow again. "Sed audite consilium meum!"

The man blinked and looked Naruto in the eye voluntarily, and pointed a weak, trembling finger at him. "Ut... Loqueris linguam eorum, loqui lingua nostra... Quid?" He grabbed his head with both hands and roared out. "_Quid_? Cur lingua nostra loqui!"

Naruto, unfazed by the sudden outburst of insanity, glared sternly at his fellow host on the floor. "Ego sum 'Child of the Ten'. Ego natus exercitum demonem ira intus opaca inferno animam meam."

"Ut... Tu unus ex nobis? Quid hic _cum_ sicariis? _Quid_ tu hic, et adhuc _vivere_?" The man shook his head in what appeared to be disbelief. Naruto's expression softened, as he held out a hand to the man sharing his curse. The latter looked bewildered. "Quid est vivere?"

"Because I have something worth living for," Naruto replied in English, finally breaking the veil of privacy of their conversation. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki."

Hesistantly taking the hand, the sand armor breaking and falling to the floor in countless grains, the man pulled himself up. "Ego nomine... My name is G-"

"Gaara!" a new voice yelled. Instinctively, I turned to the direction of the voice and whipped out my gun, dangerously close to pulling the trigger. My eyes widened.

Now I remembered where I knew the symbol from.

"Narita?" I inquired, vaguely remembering the name of the girl standing in the hallway, wearing a more regular assassin's outfit this time. The sandy blonde blinked and seemed to recognize me as well. She trembled and blinked rapidly, opening and closing her mouth a few times before responding.

"Y-you... Sasuke U-Uchiha..."

Grunting and wincing in pain, I helped myself to my feet with a little help from Sakura. She healed the wound the best she could and supported my weight, helping me stand up. I bit back the pain as I faced the girl that I had encountered so long ago. Naruto sighed.

"Sasuke, Sakura, meet Gaara of Children of the Grave."

Narita rushed over to Gaara and flung him around the neck. He started whispering words of comfort into her ear, like a lover speaking to his beloved, and the girl let a relieved sigh escape her mouth. She then turned to me, still trembling, and took a deep breath.

"Narita was a fake name. My name is Temari, head of the Children of the Grave."

"You're the head of your bureau at your age?" Sakura asked. "May I ask how old you are?"

"I'm 23," Temari replied. "I'm the oldest of the three of us, so that makes me the leader." She explained that she and her two brothers Kankurou and Gaara were, in fact, the entire Children of the Grave. They managed most of their kills by exploiting Gaara's abilities, and didn't take the physical, mental and emotional strain it would put on the demon host into consideration. Rolling his eyes, Naruto sighed.

"He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man, yes. But it's that pain that makes us human, that makes us better than the beasts we never really wanted to become anyway."

Gaara was silent. He was looking for words, for arguments, for _anything_ that could explain why this other man stood so proud, and had people working with him that respected or adored him, even. He found nothing. The demon in him was quiet, and for the first time in the twenty-one years of his life, he felt...

Free.

He lifted his arm, and watched a handful of sand rise and land in his palm. He looked at it with an awestruck expression, unbelieving that this was really happening. He gulped, and for the first time he was able to ignore the whispers of hatred and promises of freedom the demon made. Instead, he could hear the sand singing to him, begging for him to take control of his life and unleash his true ability. Temari warily eyed her brother, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Gaara?..."

"Harena - The sand..." Gaara whispered, no longer bound to the language of the demon. "It... It speaks to me... Deathless words of hope, of prosperity, of flourishing my true abilities..." Naruto continued to chatter with the other demon host while Sakura and I questioned Temari on her brothers. We learned that Kankurou was out on a contract and was bound to return any time now.

I wiped a blood stain off my gun with my shirt and didn't look up when I asked her about Gaara's unusual qualities. "I thought the legend only spoke of one child that would receive the curse?" I inquired, to which she jumped slightly with surprise.

"What legend?

"The legend of 10/10," Sakura answered in my place. "You know, 'a child born on October 10th will host a terrible curse' and all that?"

"...Gaara was born on January 19," Temari said, her eyes wide and her voice weak as she looked over to Gaara and Naruto. "Someone, or something, is playing a terrible game with those two."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Excuse my timing. I've been insanely busy with a hell of a lotta stuff concerning my education as well as my personal life. It's killing me. But I do have a few big things planned concerning the plot of this here story, so I'll make it up, 'mmkay?

For the ones wanting to know, the conversation between Naruto and Gaara is as follows:

_Gaara: Are you the assassins?_

_Naruto: Indeed we are. Who are you?_

_G: We are the victims you are ordered to kill._

_N: You know of our contract?_

_G: We were the ones who filed it... We no longer wish to partake in this world._

_N: That's nonsense! You'll wage war between our orders!_

_G: I am unable to do the deed myself, with this beast possessing my soul! _KILL ME!

_N: I refuse to take your life before you give me some answers!_

_G: You don't know what- _

_N: I know _exactly_ what I'm dealing with! Listen to me!_

_G: You... You speak their language, you speak our language... Why?_ Why?_ why do you speak our language?_

_N: I am the Child of the Ten. I was born to host the demon of Wrath inside the dark nether of my soul._

_G: You... You are one of us? Why are you here, _with_ the assassins? Why are you here with them, and they still _live_? Why__ do you live with it?_

Thanks to Google Translate. If anyone of you studied Latin by any chance, I'd appreciate it if you'd give me a proper translation.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Chapter Twenty**

_"I thought you were a good man, I thought you talked to God?"_

* * *

><p>In the end, Naruto, Sakura and I decided to forfeit our reward and take Gaara, Temari and Kankurou to the headquarters of the Black Rose and see if something could be arranged especially for Gaara. He was late, but not too far gone to learn to resist the curse, to take command over the demon instead of the other way around. Jiraiya took the boy under his wing, reassuring the rest of us that he wouldn't take longer than a few days. Relieved, Temari dropped in one of the many comfy chairs in our lobby with an exhausted sigh.<p>

As was common for assassins, Temari was capable of using magic as well. Her style of combat heavily relied on her wind magic, which as she demonstrated could be used for both offensive and defensive purposes. She was capable of performing the Aerial Leap technique Naruto used often, too, as well as several other devastating air- and wind-based spells. Kankurou turned out to be a puppetmaster, a sorcerer that practiced and mastered the art of energy strings to control the bodies of enemies. It was kind of like Ino's technique, only the exact opposite. Aside from the puppetry, Gaara's older brother seemed an avid lover of poisons. Sakura agreed to show him a thing or two, immediately having warmed up to the trio.

I kept my emotions a bit more reserved, a part of me that instinctively reacted to dangerous situations like this one. We all agreed on Gaara being a loose cannon, and with Temari's past attempts to steal from me and the mystery that shrouded Kankurou, who knew what their true intentions were. For all we knew, they could be out to annihilate the Black Rose from the inside out, to exploit our similarities on having a demon host in our ranks.

Kakashi seemed to have similar thoughts on our guests. The silver-haired super-assassin and Itachi came to pick the two remaining Children of the Grave up for interrogation with Inoichi, which didn't seem to unnerve or even surprise them. At least these two knew what it was like being an assassin, to be one of us. Suddenly, I realized what Jiraiya's true intentions were when he took Gaara with him. Sure, he wanted to help the boy, but not without subjecting him to continuous mental questioning.

Naruto eyed Sakura and me with a look that I recognized as his 'I am _so_ going to ask you about this' look. For the sake of our exhaustion (we completely forgot about the immunity drug that Sakura had brought), Sakura guided us to her room for it was closest to the lobby, providing the privacy we sought.

The room was average-sized, with warm light engulfing the burgundy walls and oaken furniture. The adjoined bathroom was a lot smaller, but had everything it needed. It was unusually clean for a post-apocalypse bathroom, too, and I realized this must have something to do with Sakura being a girl and a medic and thus having an obsession with her stuff being clean. The wooden floor creaked as I stepped on it, something that royally irked Sakura according to her own words, but was too useful to have fixed.

Naruto spotted a bowl of strawberries upon entering, and looked at his pink-haired teammate expextantly. She rolled her eyes, amused, and beckoned for him to dig in, to which the blonde grinned like a five-year-old and picked up a knife, chopping the fruit to pieces and enjoying the sour-sweet taste of fresh, radiation-free strawberries. Sakura flopped down on her bed, making a mess of the dark blue covers, and stretched. She looked at me with a sly smirk, intending to get a reaction from the blonde with what she was about to say.

"So, Sasuke, I think I can go for round two now..."

Her words had the desired effect, as Naruto choked on his food, knocked over the bowl of strawberries and dropped the knife to the floor. Still coughing heavily, he hissed a curse at the small wound that graced his thumb. Sakura started to laugh out loud, and the smirk that played with my lips turned into a trademark mocking snicker upon watching the blonde jump and hearing that divine laugh of hers.

Naruto was next to immune to petty injuries like that, however, and wiped his thumb on his shirt that was dirty with mud and other substances already. The wound never ceased to bleed, though; if anything, it only started bleeding heavier. Sakura stopped laughing. She hopped off her bed and picked up the knife that Naruto had been using. Her face paled.

"You didn't -" She watched Naruto frantically wave his hand around. "Oh, god, you did."

"What's the matter?" Naruto croaked, voicing both his own and my thoughts. Sakura replied by punching him straight in the jaw with terrifying strength.

"You worthless, idiotic, careless piece of fuck!" She screeched. "That blade was laced with a rending poison!"

I frowned, against all common sense hoping that I was wrong. "Does that mean what I think it does?"

As I feared, Sakura nodded as she dropped to her knees and started searching some boxes under her bed. "He's bleeding out ten to fifteen times as fast as normal. And with him inhaling it, who knows what will happen." She frantically searched for the antidote (in her panic opening a box that I had a feeling was intended for the eyes of someone special only, as it was filled with very tempting lingerie among other things), her scowl growing more furious with each passing second. Ultimately, she jumped up and strode to the door, glaring at me. "Don't just stand there, take him to Tsunade!"

Complying in silence, I picked up the flailing blonde and carried him to the medical lab. Before the blonde woman had a chance to even fathom what was happening, I had dropped Naruto on the extraction table that I knew was used to draw poison out of people. I turned to look at the woman, who stared at me as if I grew an extra head. A sigh escaped my mouth. However, before I had the chance to explain what was going on, Sakura barged in and rushed past me.

"The dobe accidentally cut his finger with a poisoned knife. He's bleeding out ten times as fast as a normal human being would." She continued to grab all kinds of medical supplies and slapped the knife on the counter. "It's a poison of my own design, and frankly, I didn't expect I'd need the antidote for it."

Tsunade refound her ability to speak and went to research the setup of the poison, while Sakura mixed several chemicals with others. Naruto was still struggling, held by the binding spell Tsunade had placed on him, so I knocked him out in order to let the two medics do their work and buy them some time. The less Naruto moved, the slower he would bleed, and the more time the medics had.

I watched them take their discussion in medical, chemical and anatomical jargon to a new level, as even I (who has read up on many subjects concerning the human body and its functions) couldn't follow them anymore. When it came to poison, I gave up instantly; my knowledge of crafting venom and its appliances was next to nothing. The time issue was what kept them on edge. Soon, the dobe wouldn't have a drop of blood left in his body, killing him slowly and painfully. Tsunade scolded the pink-haired assassin for letting such a dangerous weapon lay about, to which the younger woman in turn countered that no person in his right mind would take a knife from a poison mistress' desk and use it to cut fruit. I intervened, stating that it was an accident and that no one was at fault, with which the women seemed at peace and started to work again.

Ten minutes had passed, and a small puddle of blood had formed around Naruto's hand and lower arm. It was scary to see him bleed so much; the blonde was rarely ever hit and even if he was, something seemed to be stopping him from bleeding too much. I scoffed. Looks like even the demon couldn't resist a poison this powerful. Sakura perked up. "Sasuke, get Kankurou."

I glared at her. "Come again?"

"Get Kankurou," she repeated sighing. "I know you don't trust the guy, but we need all the hands we can get to save the dumbass." She looked at the unconscious form of my best friend. "Maybe that'll prove his loyalty to the Black Rose for you."

Under peer pressure from Tsunade, I agreed, and went to Intel where the two Children of the Grave members were interrogated. I didn't bother knocking and threw the door open, slamming it into the wall with so much force that it nearly busted off its hinges. The four males and single female jumped at this sudden noise. Itachi, Kakashi and Inoichi turned to glare at me, and it was my brother who spoke up.

"You _better_ have a _very_ good reason to intterupt our interrogation," he hissed, unable to mask the killing intent that he harbored towards me at this particular moment. I ignored him and grabbed Kankurou by his collar, earning several surprised gasps from the people in the room.

"You want to prove your loyalty to the Black Rose? Follow me."

The puppetmaster blinked and complied, too surprised to utter a word of protest or any word for that matter. Not wasting any time, I took a shortcut through Research (startling Shizune) and barged back into the medical lab with a stunned Kankurou in my wake. He looked from Naruto, unconscious on the table, to me, to the two women in white coats working their asses off on all kinds of chemicals. He let his brain process the input, gulped and took a deep breath. "What did he get poisoned with?" he asked. Sakura, not looking up from her work, picked up a vial and tossed it at him.

"That. It's very complex and very hard to nullify, but you're from another school of craftsmanship. Maybe you can figure something out."

Immediately starting to analyze it, the eyes of the male poisoncrafter turned wider with every passing second. He couldn't suppress a 'wow', and took notes of everything. "Whoever designed this is a fucking genius."

"Thanks for the compliment," Sakura said, her voice humorless. Before he could voice the obvious question of surprise, she sent a glare in his direction to silence him. "Now if you're done admiring my work, help us save our friend and I'll promise you I won't have to feed your remains to Temari."

Kankurou gulped, took another deep breath and nodded. He grabbed a pen and a scrap of paper and started to write down formulas and extractions, proving himself a mathematical prodigy alike Shikamaru's capabilities. He then demanded a list of chemicals, and an assistant. He gave Sakura and Tsunade an entire list of what to do and what was the weak point of the poison, effectively cutting me out of the conversation entirely. I didn't care much, as long as my friend was going to be fine.

Half an hour later, three tired poisoncraftsmen and -women had stabilized and extracted every last drop of poison from Naruto's system. Accomplished, they let out a collective sigh and Sakura spontaneously high-fived Kankurou. I smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, his body slightly tensing from surprise and anticipation for the worst. A real assassin's treat, I thought. He slowly turned to me, and relaxed when noticing my disposition. "Thanks so much for rescuing my best friend," I said with relief in my voice.

"Anytime," he replied, returning the smile (albeit somewhat nervous). "Your Order has some very interesting ways of poisoncraft. It's been a pleasure working with them." He looked at Sakura and Tsunade. I frowned when I noticed his gaze lingering on Sakura a little too long, and he seemed to get the hint.

Note to self: Sakura really was too good-looking for her own good.

Kankurou, now having proved his loyalty to the Order, was relieved from custody along with his sister. They were allowed to attend the dining hall and the shooting range, but all the research departments were off limits to the newcomers. According to Itachi, it was nothing personal, just a necessary safety precaution. Temari couldn't help but snicker at these words, as I had spoken them to her in the exact same way when we first met. The siblings were dismissed and complied, even though they didn't exactly have to follow my brother's orders, and met with us (being a recovered Naruto, Sakura and myself) in the main hall. Temari was the one to speak.

"Thank you all so much for all you've done. You don't know how much it means to him."

Both Sakura and I instantly looked over to the third member of our team. "Wanna bet?" Naruto replied sarcastically, quite tactlessly reminding the duo of his own diabolic soul. Taken aback, Temari looked down in embarrassment.

"...Right. I apologize."

"Eh, don't mention it," the blonde brushed it off. "In all honesty, I'm quite used to it. Hell, they even call me 'demon boy' here." He shot a sportive glare in my direction and smirked.

It took the other blonde a while to find the appropriate words to voice her response, and ultimately, she gave up hber search with a sigh. "I just - I hope Gaara will be accepted like you are, that people won't just judge him for his... condition."

With a few last words of reassurance that the red-head was in good hands, we said goodbye to the two fellow assassins and went to Kakashi's office for the briefing of our mission. It was a necessary evil, and I was quite sure that Kakashi wasn't going to be too happy about our unorthodox way of taking matters in our own hands. It was for the best, though; it was these acts of compassion that made me feel that I was more than a killing machine (even though trained to be one), that I was still a human being and that love wasn't destroyed along with most of this planet when the apocalypse took place.

Of course, when I took a single look at Sakura, I was already quite sure that love wasn't dead; I had come to the conclusion that there was no other explanation for the feelings I harbored towards the rosette. For me, Sasuke Uchiha, that was as impossible as it sounded. Then again, if us assassins acted like Gods of Death in the first place, performing miracles and becoming Gods of Hope was a small step to make.

At that same moment, Sakura eyed me, apparently picking up some strange vibes from me. I immediately stopped pondering, mentally scolding myself for letting my emotions get the best of me and pulling the veil of the cold-hearted assassin back over my composure. She turned back to Naruto, refraining from questioning me on the matter, and I took a deep breath. Falling in love was so inconvenient for someone with my profession.

As I had anticipated, Kakashi was furious about the danger we had brought upon the Black Rose by taking the Children of the Grave here. He was beginning to question our motivation to keep up our reputation, and frankly, so were we. Had it been even so much as six months ago, I would've simply pulled the trigger on the three siblings and be done with the entire drama.

Was I going soft?

Was Sakura really that much of a strain on the merciless, cold-blooded façade that I put up, or had it simply never been different?

I was plagued by these and similar questions throughout the entire day, unable to focus on anything else. And frankly, I didn't even care. Right now, sorting out my feelings was top priority, because if I didn't, not only would I be in danger; so would Sakura, Naruto, Itachi and the entire Order of the Black Rose. Once again, they were depending on me - only this time, I'd be surprised if even one of them knew it.

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

I was bored, and remembered there was such a thing as fanfiction. I hereby wish everyone the best for 2012, that we all may go out with a bang.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	21. Chapter Twenty One

**Chapter Twenty-One**

_"Love is the only war worth fighting for."_

* * *

><p>The siege we laid on Point Blank and our first encounter with Sakura and Angel Witch seemed ages ago, while in reality it hadn't been more than a few months at most. But considering everything that had happened in between the first war between the Black Rose and Moon's Eye and this one, it was only natural for everyone in the Order to adapt so quickly. I looked from Naruto to Suigetsu to Kiba - none of their eyes showed a sign of hesitation, and it reassured me that we were ready to die for one another.<p>

Not many words were spoken, for no words known to mankind could accurately describe the unbearable tension that pressed onto us. 'Greet Death like a friend', Itachi always used to say, but when it came to actually staring Death into its hollow eyes, the only normal reaction was running for your life (no pun intended) while screaming every last share of air out of your lungs. Yet here we were, advancing onto the planes of our demise, even with the intention to live to tell the tale and determination to last us a lifetime.

Greet Death as a friend.

It sounded like a line of lyrics coming from one of the many, many metal songs I had in my library, yet it was the harsh reality of our lives. Technically, Death was our friend, a good friend that we could summon to do our bidding and keep us alive. Yet we came so close to its grasp on so many occasions ourselves that we learned Death to be the kind of friend that stabs you in the back when personal gain comes into play. Treacherous, tempting, eternal, and addicting, Death _was_ our lives in a sense.

Even when one takes the lives of others time and again, never would they truly unveil the many mysteries that shrouded the immense, terrifying salvation of the afterlife. Immense because everyone seemed to take notice. Terrifying because it is human nature to fear the unknown. And liberating because it would rid us of the many hardships the fallout had brought to this planet.

Kiba suddenly stopped in his tracks, his eyes wandering the surroundings and taking notice of every small detail. His ears perked up, picking up sounds humanly impossible to hear, while a low growl arose from the depths of his throat. "Company," the werewolf hissed as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Naruto, too, seemed to pick up a hostile presence, judging from the blonde's muscles tensing as if he were bracing himself for evasive maneuvers. Suigetsu and I slowly slid our handguns from the holsters, disarming the safety lock with our fingers twitching on the trigger.

In a split second, Kiba raised his right arm, commanding the forces of the earth with his newfound magic, and a sharp spike-shaped rock emerged from the soil. It pierced someone, or something, who had been hiding under a camouflage spell, waiting for a chance to catch us off guard and landing a quick surprise attack. The effect of the spell gradually wore off, and Suigetsu (being the one closest by Kiba's victim) ID'ed the ambusher as a common bandit. I cursed at the waste of time and picked up the pace.

Suspicion that everyone was a little anxious for what awaited us: confirmed.

It took us another hour to arrive at our destination, and where the tension had been thick enough to cut already, the weight of our looming fates had grown twice as heavy. Kiba played with his gun, twirling it around his finger and restlessly tossing and catching it over and over again. Tiny details like these meant more to us than one would think, as Kiba's werewolf genes usually morphed any anxiety he felt into excitement, and fear into bloodlust. When Kiba's animal senses were a reason for him to be nervous, that spelled 'trouble' in big bold blood-red letters.

Everyone else was already there, readying defenses and setting up emergency precautions. In the same command room Naruto, Sakura and I had fought Kabuto in when we first besieged the base, Shikamaru, Shikaku, Inoichi and Konohamaru took the reins over the operation, laying down literally hundreds of game plans in a time span of an hour. Maps of the surroundings, lists of Moon's Eye members salvaged from the memory core, everything was given some use and everything was used to our advantage.

In what used to be the kitchen, Sakura, Tsunade and Shizune set up the med bay, commandeering dozens of faceless, proportionless clay figures to provide all sorts of medical apparatuses and supplies. Tsunade, along with being the head of the emergency department, had the final say in everything as well, being Jiraiya's executive officer (aside from Kakashi and my brother, but Tsunade's position in the Order had been special since day one).

The rosette's eyes caught mine for a second as she beckoned me to follow her for a little private conversation. She then turned on her heels and strode off, her white lab coat fluttering behind her. I shot a quick look at Naruto, who smirked understandingly, before following her, ignoring the nudge Suigetsu gave me.

Childish twit.

Without a word, I followed Sakura, the steady _tick tick tick_ of her high heels (she didn't even have time to change, I figured) on cold stone acting as my guide. For some reason, I had the strange urge to match my footsteps to hers, but I refrained. I was Sasuke Uchiha - I didn't _match_ anyone, I set the example. That's what the Uchiha name means.

When we were out of earshot, she pulled me into a corner and crashed her lips on mine. The kiss came unexpected and I was genuinely taken aback for a moment, but soon enough my instincts overruled my mind and the flames of passion once again ignited in my heart. Our hands roamed everywhere, unbeknownst to us which were whose, while our tongues were locked in a vicious struggle for domination that neither of us really wanted to end. If there was such a thing as 'heaven', this was probably what it felt like.

What turned out to be only seconds later, Sakura broke off the kiss and buried her face in my shoulder. I smiled weakly.

"What was that for, if I may be so bold?"

Looking up with that _perfect_ seductive glint in her eyes that drove me crazy beyond humanly possible, she shrugged. "Possibly the last chance we get, so I figured 'why the fuck not'? I already kissed Ino goodbye, and you were next on my list." She giggled at the amazement that washed over my face. "Come on, Sasu-cakes, I was only kidding."

I twitched. "..._What _did you call me?"

"Nothing..." she sing-songed, drawing both syllables out for added effect. I sighed and shook my head, not knowing if it was amusement or annoyance I felt (though my money was on amusement).

"You're insane," I stated snickering. "I mean, first you kiss me, then you call me something _completely_ immature and inappropriate, and you plan to go out and fight wearing _that_?" I beckoned at her shoes. "You must've been really looking for a reason to kiss me goodbye, if you're willing to go as far as to get yourself killed."

She stuck her tongue out and smirked deviously, pressing her body against mine again. "You and I both know you love seeing me in these, hot stuff."

"Look who's talking, minx," I whispered in her ear while wrapping my arm around her slender, almost fragile body. She purred and pecked me on the lips again, before turning around and granting me one last look at her perfect backside. I vaguely recalled her saying she needed to get back to work now, but for some reason 'work' sounded awfully similar to dying when I thought of what was about to come.

Deciding that it was probably time to rendezvous with my team, I navigated through the endless corridors (this place really was a fucking maze), and eventually spotted Naruto's mop of bright golden blond hair. Suigetsu and Kiba both looked at me with the kind of expression that was pretty much ridiculing, but secretly hid a little envy. I could feel the pressure that was on the three of them, as it slowly enveloped everyone of us in a suffocating grip.

It was only minutes later that we heard the first explosion.

Kiba gulped, unsure of what to do, and looked to me in a final attempt to get some guidance. This made me decide that I needed to take command, and I was about to order everyone in my general vincinity around until I heard Shikaku's voice over Inoichi's mental transmission ability.

"Brothers and sisters, we are officially under attack. Engage defensive procedure one."

Mentally slapping myself for thinking stupid things, I looked at Naruto, Kiba and Suigetsu. The looks in their eyes said more than words could ever have, and we all knew that this could be the last time we saw each other alive or at least identifyable. We knew what Kaguya was capable of, and we knew his psychomaniac passion for maiming his victims to death. But the worst part was that I would be far away from the battlefield for the most part, taking out commanders from the long range while hiding way up the mountain in a special bunker outfitted for snipers like Shino and I.

With a common 'Good hunting' I departed from the rest of my team, making my way up to the sniper bunker as fast as I could (this place _really_ was a fucking maze). I wasn't surprised to see Shino already set up and peering through his scope. We greeted each other with a muffled grunt and a swift nod while I swiftly set up my own gear as well.

Usually, sniping from this distance needed a spotter to lay down the target's information for the shooter. However, the snipers in the Black Rose really had no need for a wingman, for their eyes were on average better than a bird's. Shino was an exception, but he made up for it with a nifty magic trick he developed. It allowed him to look through the eyes of his bugs flying around the battlefield, and pinpointing his targets that way. Combined with my ability to relay any information through to his mind, our teamwork made a deadly accurate sniping cell.

Minutes passed and dozens of high-caliber bullets were sent on a one-way ticket to a brain buffet from our vantage point. Not many words were spoken, and every now and then I took a second to check on my team that I deep inside did care for a lot.

Shino cursed and looked up from his scope. "You better get down there, Uchiha. Kaguya showed up."

My mind short-cicuited, and in a matter of seconds, I had abandoned my position in the mountains and took the short way down. Like a ninja, I landed smoothly and silently about thirty feet down, with a little bit of help from magic. Using my mental communication and ocular powers, I located the rest of Echo Victor in no time. Ignoring their surprised and/or annoyed reactions to my presence, I snapped Shino's warning at them as an explanation for my actions. Their disposition instantly changed.

Kiba cursed and vented his frustration on an unlucky Moon's Eye grunt, tearing the poor soul in two from the croch up. Naruto shot a disapproving glare at the werewolf, but he couldn't hide the bloodlust that reflected in his fiery red eyes. Another grunt was stupid enough to charge wildly onto our position, resulting in her taking the full blow of Naruto's Demon Wind Bomb. A bloody pulp was all that was left for Moon's Eye to identify, but we all knew that they really didn't care much about who died and who lived. They didn't pay much respect for the dead, often leaving their casualties to a nameless grave unless it was someone really special.

Like the monster that stood before us at this very moment.

Kimimaro Kaguya, his expression as stoic as we came to expect from the heartless maniac, casually strolled along his falling comrades, several bullets of varying caliber bouncing off his reinforced skin. He looked around, taking in every detail of the plentiful suffering around him, as if he were drawing energy from it. Suigetsu gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tighter, charging so much magical power that it radiated off of him. Kaguya seemed oblivious to our presence, however, and Naruto decided to take the opportunity to charge.

With a sphere of compressed dark energy infused with wind-element magic in his hand, Naruto shadow-stepped behind our enemy and released the blast of destruction in its purest form. Kaguya had expected it though, and very swiftly remodeled his shoulder blades to form two wing-shaped shields that sustained the impact. The Demon Wind Sphere, one of Naruto's more powerful attacks, barely did any damage to the mutant psycho - a testament to the latter's outrageous potential.

Instantly, the blonde demon host was sent flying as he was slugged with a club that seemed to be made of Kaguya's own skull and spine. His flight covered a good thirty feet until he touched ground again, or would have touched ground if not for Suigetsu catching him by making good use of his Elemental Afterimage ability. Scrambling up and thanking Suigetsu for his quick thinking, Naruto took his battle stance again, fully knowing that this was only an exhibition round.

That, and this battle just got personal. Demon against demon, but still light versus dark. A paradox that was only possible in this apocalyptic hell we generally referred to as our lives.

"Think we could snap his bones with some Earth magic?" Kiba asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure, if Naruto's Demon Wind Sphere didn't work, some Earth magic surely will," I snapped at the werewolf, who in turn glared at me furiously. "Need I remind you that dark energy is the most powerful source of magic in the world, or does even _this_-" I beckoned to the bloody pulp that was left of the Moon's Eye assassin Naruto had slain earlier "- ring no bells?"

Kiba didn't respond, aside from the death glare that he managed to shoot me before swiftly disposing of three attackers. This seemingly insignificant detail made me realize the dramatic drop in bullets flying in our direction, as if Kaguya's allies were just as terrified of his bloodthirsty rage as his enemies. This spelled nothing good for us. I mentally notified Naruto and Suigetsu of this fact, and their reactions were the same as mine. We were in for something we couldn't even begin to fathom.

Kaguya took our moment of stillness to charge, with surprisingly swift movements. Kiba's animal senses were the first to react, causing him to create a trench in Kaguya's path. The psychomaniac tripped and fell, dropping his guard for a brief second. The opening was miniscule, but large enough for a trained marksman's eye. I whipped out my handgun and aimed as fast as I could, firing no less than four rounds in a second's time. One of them managed to get through before Kaguya had time to remodel his bone structure, however dealing little damage. My handgun only supported small caliber ammo, and from what I saw in the spur of the moment, it was only a minor flesh wound.

Still, it was good to know that this guy was still more or less a human being and thus could be killed.

"New plan,"

I mentally said to my team. _"The key to hitting this monster _(Naruto snorted - 'monster' was a tag that fit us all) _is speed. I'm gonna lay back for a while; Naruto and Suigetsu, get some quick hits in. Kiba, keep tripping him."_

"Yes, _master_," Suigetsu mockingly sneered. I smirked. Snapping witty remarks at each other was definetely a sign that the inital tension was getting less, which would increase our chances of survival.

What I witnessed next was a display of pure skill and elemental mastery that few had ever witnessed. Naruto took 'Speed freak' to a whole new level, shadow-stepping back and forth around our enemy at a pace that even I had trouble keeping up with. Using his sharpened claw-like fingernails that were a result of the demon's life force slowly consuming his body again, tiny scratches appeared everywhere on Kaguya's bare torso. Suigetsu took it upon himself to play the decoy, liquidifying and solidifying like his life depended on it. Whenever Kaguya did find a possibility to charge, Kiba would modify the battle terrain to form spikes of solid stone or suddenly raise or lower the ground underneath his feet. Whenever Kaguya was really exposed, I sent some bullets flying.

Soon enough, the invincible Kimimaro Kaguya was standing before us, bloodied, cut, scarred and beaten. A scenario he obviously wasn't used to.

With several bullet holes gracing his legs, moving or even standing was proving a hard task. Karma was a bitch though, because the shape-shifter easily reinforced the bones in his legs, creating a form of leg braces.

There was just one thing he hadn't taken into consideration.

Those leg braces slowed him down even more, whereas each hit we landed filled us with adrenaline. Our attacks sped up even more, And soon the only part that was holding him up were countless braces made up of his own remodeled bones. What stood before us now was more like a tank than anything else. What was worse was that Echo Victor was starting to feel the consecquences of this much physical and magical pressure. The only one pretty much unscathed and plentiful magic reserves was me.

I blinked, and ducked just in time to avoid Naruto flying over my head. He had been hit by some attack coming from Kaguya. I relied on Suigetsu to break his fall again, but the Elemental didn't quite get as far. He did manage to break the fall, but the impact shattered his barely solid form into a puddle of hot water. Even Kiba was breathing heavily - his werewolf genes weren't used to so much magic. The extensive sorcery wore him down faster than normal.

Kaguya charged again, and Naruto was his target this time as well. I conjured up about half of my magical resources and compressed it until it ignited, directing the outburst of flames into a barrage of white hot fireballs that could melt cold stone. The flames missed their target, but my main opjective was achieved; in order for Kaguya to dodge, the evil maniac had to break off his attack.

"Dammit," Naruto breathed while scrambling up from the dirt. "We should've taken those endurance booster shots Sakura came up with."

"I know," I grunted back. "But Prince Inuzuka didn't think it was necessary, the fucking asshead."

"I heard that, Uchiha," Kiba panted. "Every human makes mistakes."

Naruto snorted cynically. "Whatever you'd call human. So, what do we do now?"

"Beats me," I sighed truthfully. "I don't think we can keep this up for much longer. I mean, hell, look at Suigetsu." The Elemental lay unconscious, his liquid body appearing to be a shapeless, jelly-like structure. I cursed under my breath. Every second we wasted, Kaguya recharged, and we knew from his file that his stamina regenerated at an inhuman rate.

Right at that instant, the piercing sound of a high-caliber round echoed over the practically silent battlefield. The bullet slugged a three-inch wide hole in Kaguya's bone armor, and a muffled screech of agony was heard from inside. The hole slimmed and morphed closed, but another shot was fired and impacted in another weak spot on our enemy's armor.

"What the fuck - Inoichi! Who's operating my rifle!"

I demanded, slightly panicking. When it came to my precious guns, I was as frantic as any collector who treated his pride and joy with love and care.

"I am,"

came Inoichi's own reply. _"Decided you could use a hand. We've taken care of all the enemy's forces inside. Anko, Deidara, Konan, Shikamaru, Konohamaru and Chouji are headed your way."___  
><em>_

My heart jumped.

We were saved.

No more than a second later, Chouji's human cannonball form came crashing down upon the tank that was Kaguya, who in turn reinforced his skeleton even more. It was enough to stop the velocity of Chouji's charge, but that was about it. As the others arrived, I could feel the energy building up from what was once Kimimaro Kaguya. It was pressing down on everyone of us, like a giant invisible anvil, before it suddenly disappeared. Kaguya roared, and was followed by nothing but silence.

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><p>[Author's Note]<p>

So here we are - I don't have anything to say, really, so I'm not going to bore you with extremely long excuses as to why this chapter is so fucking late or whatever. Just deal with it that I'm unpredictable. Haha. Like anyone cares.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

_"Now I'm fighting this war since the day of the Fall, and I'm desperately holding on to it all..."_

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><p>The silence was endless. Nobody really dared to move, and even breathing felt like it was risky. The shell of bone stood before us, unmoving and silent, like a statue reminding us of the sins mankind had committed, that had caused earnest young men like Kaguya to turn into a heartless, ruthless monster like he had become. The built-up pressure that his magical energy had caused only moments ago had completely vanished, but no one really dared to move.<p>

As if on cue, a large crack shot across what could pass for a chest plate, startling all of us with a loud snapping noise. I took this as a sign that it was safe to move, and with a little more effort than usual, I activated my eye powers. The life forces of Suigetsu, Kiba, Naruto, Anko, Chouji and everyone that was there instantly flared a bright (or in Suigetsu's case, faint) blue, but not even the tiniest flame flickered from the bone armor.

"He's... dead."

A collective sigh of relief hovered over the group. As a result of a formidable fight, Kimimaro Kaguya had strained his body far beyond his physical limits, which in the end killed him. The defense of Point Blank was a success. Seconds later, Inoichi informed us that the Order of the Black Rose had survived the siege without lethal casualties, and only one severely wounded member (Suigetsu, as far as you could 'wound' an Elemental).

I smiled.

Kiba could no longer control his trademark snicker, which eventually turned into laughter. Others joined in, cheered or hugged each other. "Alright folks, very nice work, all of you. Someone get Suigetsu, let's head back," Naruto commandeered over the noise. Without complaining, Chouji enlarged his hands and picked up the jelly-like shape that was supposed to look like our friend.

Moon's Eye managed to do quite some structural damage to the base, as debris were scattered everywhere and piles of Deidara's animated statues lay in every corner. The man himself would later recollect all of the parts and recycle it, creating new operatives for Point Blank.

That was pretty much the last thing I really remembered from the aftermath of the battle, as the adrenaline started to wear off and the stress, physical strain, wounds and everything else came crashing down on me like a waterfall. My body felt numb, my head felt light, and colors seemed to fade to a big gray blur except for one certain shade of pink. Wishing I could bask in the feeling of the crush-hug Sakura gave me for a little longer, I managed to summon enough strength to curve my lips into a content smile before finally giving in to the light-headedness and falling asleep.

I woke up with a feeling that Naruto once called 'battle hangover'; similar to a morning after drinking too much alcohol, one wakes up in a hungover state after fighting a big battle. This was caused by (quote unquote) 'the euphoria of battle, death, suffering and pain wearing off', according to Naruto, and whilst agreeing with the blonde that this particular fight had certainly been one for the books, I didn't really assign much credits to his explanation. Must be because I don't have an extremely blood-thirsty demon inhabiting my being, I reckoned. I sat up, winced and rubbed my head while letting out a dry cough. Before I could even see clearly in the dark room I was in, I instinctively reached for my gun under my pillow (right at that point I realized I was in a bed in the first place, too) when I heard stumbling and a dull thud across the room. My heart skipped a beat when it wasn't there.

"Sasuke?"

Instantly, the pressure relieved itself when the familiar warm, concerned voice echoed slightly throughout the room, the room that was now cleansed of any threatening vibes.

"...Sakura."

Another crush hug. "I was so worried when you suddenly passed out..."

I smirked weakly. Freaking out a girl by passing out. Classic. "...How long have I been here - scratch that, where _is_ here?"

"Well..." she sing-songed. "Since your OS suddenly went dead and caused the hardware to fail, the guys at intel gave the engineers full clearance to upgrade any malfunctional hardware. It was only a matter of charging the battery, though."

I rubbed my temples, wincing. "My head is not yet ready for cryptic writings, Sakura."

Sakura giggled. "You overdid it, idiot. We had to drag your limp, exhausted ass to this holding cell. You should lose some weight."

"Might I inform you, dear lady, that I am in perfect physical shape," I replied smirking, playing along, before deciding to add a little more fuel to the fire by pulling her close to me and whispering in her ear. "But I think you already found that out for yourself, didn't you..." She shivered in excitement, and I could sense how much she wanted to crawl onto this crappy bed and show me she knew _exactly_ how well in shape I was.

"Hey, Teme, Tsunade told me you were here and - Oh, did I interrupt something?"

But of course, Naruto had to come to ruin all the fun, once again.

Only this time, I wanted to punch that suggestive grin off his whisker-marked face. Best friends or not, this was cock-blocking, and that's an act of treason. I glared at the blonde warrior for being his dense self again, and tried to get up from my compromising yet comfortable position. Sakura blushed faintly and stepped away from me, but at the same time knew Naruto didn't really mind in the first place. If anything, the demon host was happy for us; happy that we found such comfort in simply being around each other.

Naruto shook his head and turned to leave after carelessly tossing my handgun to me, which I caught in surprise and immediately checked for any flaws. He stopped in the doorway, turning his head to the two of us one last time. "By the way, Suigetsu's back up as well. You might want to finish before the water brain comes to crash the party." He winked and left before either I could throw a knife at his head or Sakura could give him a verbal ass grinding.

I sighed and stretched, using the stretching as an excuse to put my arms around Sakura's shoulders. "Might as well check up on the oaf then, and save this for another time..." The disappointment was evident in my voice. Sakura, sighing as well, shrugged my arm off her shoulders, planted a quick kiss on my lips and pointed out that my clothes were on the battered desk in the corner, opposite of the bed. She then left the room to 'give me some room to dress up' - a little, insignificant fact on first sight, but alarm bells went off in my either way. There was nothing to my body that she hadn't seen before, and then this sudden distance... It just didn't add up.

Right at that point, Suigetsu's loud antics echoed down the hallway, interrupting my (maybe a bit paranoid) thoughts. I locked the door, not really feeling like the Elemental barging into the room just yet, and took a little longer than usual to get dressed to buy some time. Sort out the events that had just occurred and such. With a sigh, I picked up the leather duster that had survived yet another memorable fight, slung it over my shoulder and left the room. I was met by Suigetsu practically glomping me, being fired up by Kiba's generally annoying presence as much as the werewolf got fired up by his. I planted my elbow in his gut, managing to land a hit by surprising the Elemental before he could dematerialize, and thus reconquering my freedom. I smirked.

"Good to see you all patched up again, dumbass."

Suigetsu, rubbing his stomach, returned the smirk. "Likewise."

"So sentimental, we're all such a big loving fucking dysfunctional family," Kiba said sarcastically while rolling his eyes. "Let's get going, I can't wait to taste the Black Rose's trademark raw venison steak again."

In unison, Suigetsu and I snapped a 'shut up, mutt' at the werewolf, while Naruto stood by and watched the scene unfold with a happy smile (which I indeed did not fail noticing). Kiba may have been right about our 'family' being dysfunctional as hell, but we knew we had each other's backs when it really came down to it. That much had been proven by the Battle for Point Blank (as much as it wasn't already evident). And fuck, did I love every minute of it.

And only then did I realize that we left work to go back to work, never really going home. But while the office of the Black Rose was in essence our workspace, it was also the only place that resembled a 'home' in any way, shape or form. A sanctuary from the constant confrontations with the sins of mankind, a safe haven for the sinners fighting against those sins to rest their head. Our way of life was horribly ironic, it was almost sad. But again ironically, also kind of funny in a way. If we'd still be celebrating birthdays, it would have made a great topic of discussion on one of those parties.

Where most people would feel some sense of euphoria after such a victory over the enemy, and thus act accordingly, I was silent for most of the trip. The sudden distance Sakura put between us wouldn't leave my thoughts, and the endless pondering forced its way onto me to such an extent that a leisurely stroll home was out of the question. I stole a few glances at the pink-haired healer that may have took my heart into her hands more than she, or more importantly I myself, had realized. She didn't seem to think much of it, as she joked around with the rest of the boys like always, but when she caught me staring, my gaze was met with one of some kind of guilt. This little detail made me feel strangely good; as if we knew she wronged me by leading me on and pushing me away.

Sakura Haruno, the little girl from Angel Witch.

The archangel of my destiny.

The harbinger of my destruction.

...I really should take up 'Irony' as my middle name.

Eventually, we set foot on familiar ground again, as our unusual company halted at the old, shabby wooden door with the withering black rose logo printed on it. Kiba took it upon himself to use the knocking code to get in, but no one opened. He knocked again, the pattern exactly the same, but was again met by silence.

The feeling of tension, suspence and anxiety collectively washed over the group again, so fresh that it was almost as if it never left our system. Tsunade prepared to disable the security wards on the door and wall, but with some quick thinking, Naruto had already summoned a fair share of dark energy (the goosebumps that signaled the malicious power staining the atmosphere were much more familiar to me than to the rest of the Order) and blew the door clean off its hinges, as the wards weren't designed to sustain such inhuman amounts of compressed force (note to self: improve security ASAP).

As we stared into the blackness of the doorway, the scent of death greeted us as it contaminated the air around us. Anyone who had more than two functioning brain cells could immediately put the pieces together - we were fooled like children, and either Jiraiya, Kakashi or (I really didn't want to think about it) Itachi paid the ultimate price for it.

"...Everyone behind me."

Eighteen faces turned towards Tsunade, who put up a magical barrier very similar to the one Naruto just destroyed. Said blonde growled in disagreement and rushed into the darkness, fueled by fear for the life of his mentor. I ran in straight after him, never forsaking my task as his best friend, and even though I was usually the fastest out of the two of us, Naruto outran me while topping speeds of almost twice his usual pace.

Then I stopped. I had a bad feeling about this.

Naruto's footsteps stopped echoing throughout the corridors - he had arrived at the Master's office. The silence was deafening.

"No..." I heard the demon host think. I turned and ran.

Time slowed as Naruto's mourning rage exploded into a burst of dark energy more powerful than we could ever begin to fathom. My vision blurred with tears; I could feel the pain of my blood brother. I fell to my knees on the dirt, crying and crying in front of the entire Order. But I couldn't give less of a fuck.

"J-Jiraiya - Ji... Jirai-ya... He's -" I stammered, unable to get that one word over my lips in this impossible context. Jiraiya simply never died. He couldn't die.

If there was such a thing as immortality, the white-haired Master of the Black Rose was the only person that could possibly possess it.

...Until now.

I heard distant footsteps behind me, and from the horror I read on the other's faces (whether this was from the shock of Jiraiya's death or something else I didn't know, but it was probably both) I wasn't sure if I even wanted to turn around. But I did it anyway.

A honest-to-goodness demon was standing a few feet behind my back. Eyes like the fires of hell itself, nails sharp as razors. His skin was the color of burnt out wood, with pitch black diabolic patterns running up from his hands to his biceps. Evil intent was radiating off of his very being, polluting the atmosphere to such extent that it spontaneously turned to black. He was carrying Kakashi and Itachi, as well as the body of his fallen Master.

This was indeed Naruto.

"The others are still alive," he growled, deep and low, and it sounded like the growl came from inside our heads. He carefully laid down the two top assassins; it was weird to see such a malevolent _creature_ take so much care. The sight of my brother and mentor on the brink of death numbed me - I couldn't move and offer to help, even if I wanted to. Tsunade, being the first to get over the initial shock, pulled herself together and rushed over to the two. Sakura, Shizune, Ino and Anko followed suit.

Forcing my muscles to operate, I turned my head and looked at Naruto. Our eyes met - the demon, whose possession of its host now reached so far that it even changed his physical appearance, roared in my mind. Though I was hardly impressed by anything anymore, the very feeling of its presence in my head startled me. I turned away my gaze and the demon snorted, before turning away with Jiraiya's lifeless body still in his arms.

Then I decided I had to do something, _anything_, to help him.

"Naruto."

He twitched and stopped. After taking a few deep breaths, I pushed myself to my feet and turned to my friend in need. I locked gazes with him again, this time refusing to break it, and placed both hands on his shoulders when I stood about a foot away from him. The skin of the demon burned my hands, but I endured the pain.

"Whatever you're thinking of doing, no matter how vengeful you're feeling, it's not worth it."

"Fuck off, Uchiha," the demon snarled as he tried to shrug my hands off his shoulders. I tightened my grip, the pain increased, but I didn't let go. Instead, I forced a thought through the barriers of dark energy that clouded his mind.

_"Remember who you are, Naruto."_

Finally, the human that still lived inside this demonic form responded. The tension on his muscles loosened, and the typical demonic traits started to retract themselves. His skin turned normal, thouch charred with first-degree burns everywhere, claws turned back into fingernails and his eyes and fangs turned human again. And before I knew it, I pulled the blonde into an embrace of sadness, of mourning, but above all, of friendship. I could not recall for how long we remained motionless like that; it could be only seconds, but it may very well be forever at the same time. He wasn't crying - he was obviously too numb to cry. This made tears well up in the corner of my eyes even more. The very possibility of losing everything Naruto was to me was enough to make me weak with fear.

It was Sakura who pulled me out of my embrace with the demon host, forcing herself over the distance she tried to create. Even in my state of emotional desperation, it was painfully evident she was very conscious of her every action. But it didn't really matter now.

Blurs were the only thing that remained in my mind about the events that led to Naruto's mourning solitude, Itachi and Kakashi's recovery, and learning from them that Kabuto Yakushi had been the one to deliver the final blow to the Black Rose's headmaster. The monstrosity that called himself Kabuto had bested even the three of them combined, which was as impressive as it was frightening, but nothing really hit home in my world. The thick fog that Jiraiya's passing created was simply too strong to really see, hear or feel anything.

Jiraiya's funeral service was solemn, exclusively attended by the most prominent members of the Black Rose, but that much more impressive. Tsunade's ode to the skill, insight, and most of all, humanity of the late master assassin was one for the ages, and my respect for my best friend skyrocketed even more when he took the stage and with only a few emotional words thanked his mentor, guardian and godfather for all that he had done in his life. This was no time for meaningless people to speak of the great impact Jiraiya had on the world - this was a time for family to mourn the loss of its patron.

After the service, it was business as usual (as far as that was possible): the Black Rose was without leader, and work didn't wait. Add the all-out war our rivalry with Moon's Eye had turned into, and the importance of making important decisions very shortly was made evident. Kakashi was to be Jiraiya's successor as the Black Rose's leader once he recovered, with Itachi as his second-in-command. Kurenai, Tsunade and Shikaku were appointed as the rest of the top dogs. The first time I really realized how big the hole Jiraiya left was, was when I arrived at the shooting range and found the white-haired sage's name still proudly at the top of the rankings.

Kakashi had some _huge_ shoes to fill.

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

I plan on getting this updated on a more regular basis. I have quite some downtime and inspiration, so I figured hey - why the hell not?

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

_"Give me a chance to be that person I wanna be..."_

* * *

><p>Naruto had come to terms with his master's death sooner than we expected. His outbreak just after he learned of Jiraiya's passing turned out to be an incident, as he was working very hard to keep something similar from happening again. At least that's what he wanted to make us believe, but the feeling that something died inside of him just wouldn't let me go; I feared that the Naruto I knew before Jiraiya's death was now gone for good. Everyone tried to support him as much as possible, but the first time to see the blonde genuinely smile was yet to come. I followed his movements as he took a handful of rubber-tipped ammo and loaded his weapon with it without paying too much attention, and sighed. If there was one thing I really hated, it was not being able to do something about this agony my best friend was going through.<p>

Kakashi, however being used to call a lot of shots around HQ, was still getting used to his promotion. He couldn't bear taking the Headmaster's office and still resided at his old desk, technically not making him the true headmaster of the Order yet. One had to officially take up the Headmaster's office with all members signing a blood contract to swear loyalty to his authority. Seeing as how that never happened, Kakashi was still second-in-command to a dead master. He didn't really talk about his reasons, but it was evident that he, too, was still coming to terms with the huge void Jiraiya left behind.

Someone held a cup of pitch-black espresso in front of my staring face, interrupting my train of thoughts. I looked up while gladly taking the black liquid gold, and my gaze met an equally crimson one looking down on me. It was Itachi's. I noticed something disturbed him - it was tradition for us to discuss things over a freshly brewed espresso. That, and he was my brother, meaning I could read him like a book. I had a hard time suppressing a smirk and ultimately failed.

"What's on your mind, brother?"

"Naruto is," Itachi said solemnly. "He's having a hard time dealing with Jiraiya's death, isn't he."

"...Obviously." I took a deep breath and analyzed Naruto working his way through his targets. There was something off about him, like he was shooting targets because it was what he was required to do, not like he was having fun practicing his skills. Of course, he was still in moruning, but death was a vital part of our careers. He didn't seem to care for anything anymore, though. No amount of killing could awaken the spirit that made our organisation less of a death factory and more of a family again, it seemed. "Aren't we all?"

The silence was more than enough for an answer. Yes, yes we were.

We continued analyzing Naruto like he was a test subject for a few minutes, exchanging mental notes back and forth until he took notice. The look that he gave us revealed that he was planning violent slaughter of us both, before he turned on his heel and left, tossing his trusted handgun in a corner. Itachi shot me a meaningful look and tossed something at me with one last remark: this had to be put to an end. I chugged down the espresso without ever tasting it and got up, following my friend (what was left of him, anyway) to his room. Before he could slam the door in my face, I pushed him back and locked the door behind us.

He was seething.

"What the fuck do you want, huh?" He spat, not the faintest sign of compassion, or any positive emotion for that matter in his voice. "Why can't you just leave me the fuck alone, and stop fucking treating me like I'm a bomb about to fucking explode?"

"Well guess what, Uzumaki," I sneered, intentionally using his last name, now angered as well by the ungrateful tone in Naruto's voice. "You are a bomb about to fucking explode. News flash: there's a demon inside your soul. The faintest emotional weakness will result in a fucking disaster." I ignored his snarls and continued. "Look, Naruto, I know how hard Jiraiya's death is on you. I know dealing with it is next to impossible, but if you don't get your act together soon, I'm going to have to put you down for good."

Naruto snorted. "Would you?"

"Matter of fact, yes," I countered without missing a beat. "Yes I would."

This finally caught his interest. He looked up at me with evident unbelief and genuine amazement in his eyes, and he suddenly realized that carelessly tossing his gun away at the shooting range a minute ago wasn't such a good idea. To put extra emphasis on my words, I whipped out my handgun in one fluent move and placed the barrel on Naruto's forehead, at point blank range. "Your choice."

"Fuck it, pull that fucking trigger, Uchiha. I fucking dare you. You're not nearly as cold-hearted as that ice-queen brother of yours, you don't have the guts to-"

Bang.

Naruto's stare went blank. I glared at him.

"Guess again."

Naruto blinked twice. I could hear him think "He really did it." and had to resist the urge to smirk. This wasn't the time to be amused by the sheer amount of impact my actions made on my victims. Well, not really. Maybe a little. I reloaded the gun, flicking the empty cartridge out of the chamber. The sound of the metal shell hitting the floor was familiar, too familiar, but not nearly as satisfying as ever before.

I put the gun back in its holster and turned around, my black leather coat fluttering behind me. In the doorway, I turned around.

"You're lucky I was expecting your reaction. Get your shit together and meet me in Itachi's office in ten minutes. We're behind on out contract quota."

Not waiting for Naruto's reaction, I resumed my trek out of his room and to Itachi's office. As my footsteps echoed against the cold stone walls, I could hear the blonde snicker. A genuine sign of amusement. I smiled. My work was done. A little example of proper shock therapy was all it took. "Nice move, dickhead, shooting me with a blank shell," Naruto thought into my mind, his mental voice amused with a hint of sarcasm. My smile just grew wider. I notified Itachi of the success of our little scheme, and his reaction was as pleased as my own. Of course I could have never put a real bullet to my best friend's brain, soft-hearted wimp that I am, but shooting him with a blank just to make an example was a good enough alternative.

I couldn't wait to tell Sakura.

...Shit. Sakura.

Naruto's state had me so preoccupied that I completely forgot about the third member of our trinity. Not that the bubblegum pink-haired healer wanted my affection and thought - that much was made clear by the way she behaved since our victory at Point Blank. I was still hell-bent on finding out what she was trying to accomplish and for what reason, and this whole ordeal wasn't helping. I feared that I, however unintentionally, had given off the same vibes as she did: that our bond was strictly professional and whatever happened in the past were spur-of-the-moment things. Which they weren't in my case, as I was quite sure my affection for the medic was something more than just admiration of her skill.

...Okay, I may or may not have fallen in love with her.

Fucking Angel Witch.

The more I tried to wrap my head around her strange behavior, the less I understood, so I dropped the matter once again as I took the scenic route to Itachi's office. Walks around HQ had never felt so solitary, so... cold, which was strange; an underground base, with walls of stone and lighted by nothing but ice-light (one of Anko's inventions - ice crystals that shed a dim reddish light), it was the perfect sanctuary for stone-cold murderers. The members of the Order always seemed to liven the place up, breaking the stale cold of the walls and bathing the corridors in warmth and safety. The Black Rose's mourning engulfed even the walls of its headquarters, which weeped with them and offered shelter to our lost and fragile souls.

I arrived at Itachi's office before Naruto, even though I took a slight detour to chat with Chouji about the battle aftermath and the painful blow we brought to the Moon's Eye by slaying Kaguya over a cup of hot espresso. Caffeine pretty much kept me sane; it helped me focus on the matter at hand and to blur out the suffering around me. In short, it helped me become the efficient assassin I was today. As I walked through the corridors of the base, I could hear Itachi's favorite music playing even through the stone door and walls, thick as they were, and walked in without knocking. The music commenced its beating on my ear drums, but as an experienced listener, I enjoyed the distorted wailing of guitars and the raw, apathetic scream-singing. I even recognized the song.

"Almost like they knew what was coming, huh," I remarked, notifying my brother of my presence. He turned around and lowered the volume of the music, thinking about the lyrical content of the song, and forced a sad smirk on his face.

"Yeah. It applies to us, really. 'Genetic codes of a dying breed, will I be left behind?' It's scary." He sighed. "All this suffering, all this death, it sickens me at times like these. Sometimes I wish I hadn't accepted that one contract, executed that one hit. Sometimes I wish I hadn't fired that one bullet, that cast us all into the deepest pits of hell."

"Jiraiya's favorite quote was 'Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man, though my mind could think I still was a mad man'. Which basically means 'you can never predict the path of the future, deal with it'. Wise man, that guy," someone said from the doorway. Faintly, very faintly, I recognized that voice. But the man who it belonged to was supposed to be dead. Yet here he was, like he had never passed away.

Naruto Uzumaki, casually leaning in the doorway with a coy smirk on his face, couldn't keep himself from laughing any longer. His snicker cut through the tense atmosphere like a bullet tore through flesh and bone. His laughter was genuine, his tone was witty, his composure was at ease and his mind was clear. It was only now that I realized this was the friend I have known, the friend that had played such a big part in my life for as long as I could remember. The unchained and unbroken spirit that never backed out of a challenge, that never lost hope and never, ever dropped the ball on his brothers. This was the friend that I remembered.

The friend that I had missed for far too long.

"Thanks for almost killing me, asshole," Naruto said to me while he moved from his spot in the doorway to the only available chair. "Guess I needed the eye-opener. Jiraiya left us a job to do, and I'm not intending to deny him that parting wish."

"Well it's about fucking time," Itachi said, relieved, while a genuine smile brightened up his face. "I'll inform Kakashi that we're all ready to sign the blood contract. Sasuke, brief him in." He then stood up and left, leaving me in his office with Naruto. Said blonde smirked like he hadn't done in ages. I smirked back and embraced him, unable to vocally explain to him how much I had missed this man. This extraordinary spirit that was special even when surrounded by vampires, werewolves, Elementals and similar otherworldly creatures.

I briefed Naruto on our next hit, a contract that specifically requested our service. This was always fishy - there was no real way of telling if this was a trap set by a rival order or someone who simply knew too much, but either way both the victim and the contact would end up dead. Naruto let out an exaggerative sigh and snickered, pretending that it bugged him how much death we had to deal to the world that was already in shambles. I punched him and beckoned him to get his gear, agreeing to meet in the restaurant for a last meal before we set out.

I stopped by Tenten to get my sniper checked once more (which I would do myself if it weren't for the shitload of other errands I had to run) and picked up a very useful new gadget at Research. It could trace any radiation poison in a second flat, which made it much easier to determine whether food was safe to eat. I joked that the device would probably explode when it would be exposed to Kakashi's cooking, which I was reprimanded for with a mental yell from said new Headmaster. Shizune shook her head, amused, as she knew exactly what was going on even though she couldn't hear him yell - my expression pretty much gave it away.

Five minutes later, I stocked up on ammo for my handgun and made sure everything was still working properly. It had survived the great battle very well, with only one small dent on the grip and a few stains of black to remind me of the horrors it helped me through.

Itachi always used to teach us how we should treat a gun like it was one of our best friends, because it would save our lives on more than one occasion. It seemed stupid and immature at the time, because it was nothing more than a tool that helped us do our jobs. It still was nothing more than a tool that helped us do our jobs, but it was also more than that. Because life proved Itachi right. The gun did save my life on several occasions. The pistol in my hands had been the first I had ever owned, and I had been able to keep it in perfect shape until now. I briefly considered getting Tenten to fix the aesthetical flaws, but it kind of seemed fitting that these stains and bruises graced its body now. It really was unique, just like we all were unique. Like it had suddenly grown a personality that could tell of many perfect shots and countless adventures by simply being dented and stained.

We left at the fall of dusk, both being most comfortable with the setting sun seeing us off and the night slowly growing more dominant, its unending darkness covering our tracks. I was at peace. Naruto was at peace. We didn't fear. We didn't resent. We didn't aggravate.

We executed.

Our contract stated that we were looking for a man that responded to the callsign 'Stake', to which the countersign was 'Hammer'. I had a bad feeling that these words meant we were dealing with a vampire. It could simply be coincidence, but I had been in this business a little too long to believe in coincidence anymore. Not that it required any special preparation that we were probably going to run into a few bloodsuckers - my fire magic could take care of that - but these creatures were extremely fast and vicious. One drop of blood was enough to trigger their superhuman instincts, and attract large hordes of their brethren. One wrong move was enough to alert their sharp sense of hearing. One second and our lives would be over.

We were still uncertain what infection with vampirism would do to Naruto. Shizune was pretty sure that his demonic soul made him immune to any type of disease or infection, as was proven by that one time when Kiba went beserk and Naruto stopped him bare-handed. He was severely wounded, but never actually contracted lycanthropy. This was partially because werewolf tribes performed a ritual to pass on their gifts to their young, but a rabid werewolf had no sentient awareness of anything he did and thus could pass on the disease instinctively. So the only thing that could have resisted infection was the demonic presence deep within Naruto's being. Our superiors had decided that it was best not to take any chances, though, and we took that to heart. The last thing I wanted to go through was seeing my best friend slowly losing himself again.

We arrived in the heart of the city by midnight, and the local nightlife thrived. Prostitutes were everywhere, mutants tried to make money by exhibiting their gruesome, deformed selves for others' amusement, and beggars clung to passers-by in hopes of anyone feeling charitable. Strangely, the last time I had been here, all the girls seemed a lot prettier. Now I hardly noticed them, and my mind kept wandering to one particular bubblegum pink-haired medic whom was probably still up, plowing through the many documents on human anatomy and the immune system.

"Teme."

I was ripped from my thoughts by my companion, who looked me deep in the eye and then turned his gaze towards two heavily armed individuals, a man and a woman. They looked like they were around our age, and they both were dressed in a similar fashion. They had the exact same eyes - pale, almost as if they were blinded, but observant and wary. Apparently they had seen us, as well. I glared at the guy, who gladly returned it. He then walked off, the girl by his side, never speaking or even interacting, but at the same time inviting us to follow. 'Avoid any unnecessary stops', Itachi had said, but these two could be a threat to our mission later on.

"One thing's for sure, they ain't Moon's Eye," I heard my mind say in Naruto's voice. "They would've started shooting at us the moment we crossed the street."

He was right - whereas Moon's Eye paid well and had no standards when it came to recruitment, it was also a guild known for its generally thick-headed members (exceptions where noted). But there was something about them that felt threatening, and it wouldn't surprise me if they were assassins or at least bounty hunters, whom were essentially freelance assassins. No guild, no rules, no ethics. Just pull the trigger and grab your reward.

I informed Naruto to turn into an eerie, dead-ended alleyway, to see how the two would react. With my eyes, I tracked their movements, but there were an unusual lot of people out tonight, and it was easy to get distracted. My silent prayers for the duo to leave us alone remained unanswered - the sound of combat boots and stiletto heels echoed of the thick brick walls. Two young adults effectively blocked our only way to freedom, and we were looking down the barrel of an antique hunting rifle, but a very cleverly modified one. The guy took off his hat. "Well, well. We spent a long time looking for you, boys."

Naruto and I didn't hesitate and simultaneously whipped out our own guns, pointing them to the girl and the guy respectively. He smiled and slowly pushed the gun a few inches to his left with a katana, putting himself out of the line of fire.

"Who do you work for," I snarled, secretly building up the heat inside the magical core of my body. He shifted his gaze from Naruto to me, the blank eyes plunging deep into my blood red ones. He beckoned the girl to lower her weapon.

"We're freelancers," he answered, half-annoyed, half-amused. "We're hunters. We kill criminals for money, among other things." He turned his back to us for a second and gazed at the velvet sky. "My name is Neji Hyuuga, and that's my cousin, Hinata." He briefly nodded his head in her direction. "But we're not here for a friendly chat."

"Thought as much," Naruto replied dryly, leaning his back against a wall and crossing his arms. "No one carries around such a big fucking gun and points it at someone who's just doing his job for no damn reason."

The Hyuugas snickered, and I had a gut feeling that these two weren't out to kill us - not yet, anyway - so I finally lowered my gun as well. Still, I was very perceptive of my surroundings, and anything that happened immediately caught my eye. My gut feeling had proven me wrong once before, and we all knew how that turned out. The result had recently killed our master.

"Does this have anything to do with our contract?" I demanded, remembering the signal words and figuring out how I could work them into a sentence. I finally decided on "There's a bit too much at stake for us to waste our time on a couple of bounty hunters."

The gaze in Neji's eyes changed. "Well, in fact it does. We have a few suspicions about a certain person, and we need you to drop the hammer on him."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Boom. There, it's mentioned. Sasuke's in love with Sakura. About that update schedule, I'll update once every two weeks on Monday. Enjoy.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

_Where are the sleepless nights I used to live for?"_

* * *

><p>Neji and Hinata Hyuuga turned out to be two very nice people, and highly proficient at what they did. Naruto and I spent a little more than an hour just chatting with them, talking about how guild life held up to freelancing. It certainly had it's perks and the pays were usually higher, but the Black Rose was the only certainty I had left, and I wouldn't ever want to miss that. They were family, friends, companions, co-workers and mentors, all at once. We didn't go much further than admit we're actually members for safety reasons, but they respected that. All in all, my instincts had been on my good side again, and I think Naruto and I had forged a very important bond with the two Ghoul hunters, as they had turned out to be specializing in.<p>

Our goal was to eliminate a man named Kisame Hoshigaki, a mutant son of a mad scientist who insisted on breeding a child with a shark. After many years, he managed to create an abomination that existed for the purpose of either killing, or killing so he could kill. At least that's what the local folklore said about the human-shark hybrid. And I happened to pick up a few rules that applied to the entire world in general when it came to assassination - Rule one was that folklore was not a good source.

But rule two stated that nothing should ever be ruled out, ever.

So if the locals said a human-shark hybrid, a human-shark hybrid we hunted. Nothing really surprised us anymore, anyway, so no matter what the world would throw at us, bullets always proved effective. For any exception to that rule, we had Naruto.

I caught myself fidgeting with my lighter (or more accurately, I was notified of that fact by Naruto's annoyed snarl). He never understood why I carried the trinket with me all the time, as I didn't exactly need it; I rarely smoked and even when I did, I could easily light my smokes with a bit of fire magic. It made sense, of course. But there was something special about this little piece of smoking equipment, and like my worn coat, I had the hardest time parting with it. This particular lighter had been my father's.

"I swear, play with that fucking thing one more time and I'm throwing it into a vampire's den."

I smiled briefly and tucked the lighter back in the pocket of my worn jeans. "Don't get worked up, Dobe. Save it for Hoshigaki."

"What is it with you and collecting useless junk?" Naruto questioned, with a hint of mockery in his voice.

I let a brief silence drop before I answered. The blonde had never been able to grasp the concept of battle trophies and sentimental value. From his point of view, taking stuff you didn't need equaled signing your death wish, which made perfect, rational sense. But there was a certain feeling to some items in my possession that I couldn't quite explain, yet I had the feeling just throwing them out would ultimately lead to regret one day. For example, I still regretted not taking any teeth from the were-zombie we found in Children of the Grave's base.

"I can't really explain it, Naruto," I finally said truthfully. "Your rational mind would not understand."

"Are you calling me one-dimensional?"

I chuckled. "Quite the contrary. Your practical approach makes us as effective as we are. You don't hesitate, you just... go. You just kill, just destroy." I already knew that didn't really come out right, but luckily, my companion dropped the matter after one less comment that I could drag around as much as I wanted, as long as it didn't get us killed.

We traveled for another hour or so, before we arrived at Hoshigaki's last known location. Overlooking the blood-stained, slimy remains of humans and animals alike, the damp atmosphere and the repulsive smell of urine, feces and vomit, I should have known that a shark-human would be hiding in a desolate sewer. The abandoned sewer pipe, a dark hole (almost too dark, as if magically drained or shielded from light) was covered in a saliva-like goo with an extremely sharp smell. I ordered Naruto to check the liquid for toxic, acid and nuclear traces - I wasn't exactly looking forward to having the soles of my sneakers slowly being devoured by some sort of acid. He shot me a glare he usually saved for his worst enemies, but channelled a small amount of dark energy into his fingertips nonetheless.

"No acid or nuclear traces, but the toxin levels in this stuff would be enough to kill an adult male human," Naruto summarized. "This bastard is dangerous."

"What if we scorch it away?"

He shook his head. "Highly inadvisable. The toxic is lethal even in gas form. Especially in gas form."

My friend's words made sense. At least we couldn't inhale the poison in this form. But certain things just didn't add up, and I exchanged a wary look with Naruto. This poison, the darkness... This shark-human was far more than a primitive mutant that lived to kill. Normally, we wouldn't be deterred much, but this leap into the unexpected was a bit too risky, even for two seasoned, fearless assassins of our caliber. If only we had Sakura...

Sakura.

I remembered a bright flash of pink and a spark of lightning. Both metal and liquids were excellent channels for lightning, and we had both at our disposal. I smirked and started to build up magical pressure. Naruto noticed this and raised one eyebrow.

"I said scorching it away would kill us both."

"I heard you the first time," came my deadpan reply.

"Then why in the name of Dio's holy ballsack are you charging magical energy?" He said flailing. "You've gone completely nuts, haven't you? Sakura finally messed with your brain!"

My lips turned into a smile I couldn't control. "It is indeed Sakura that I remembered this in the first place. But I am far from insane, as you will notice in a few seconds."

I took my handgun from its holster and channelled the magical energy through the grip into the lead of the bullet. The immense concentration of power would explode in a discharge of lightning as soon as it connected with any metal, and the plentiful goo as well as the old, worn steel of the sewer pipe would channel it across the entire hideout of the beast, with enough power to still be lethal. I aimed at the dark hole in front of me and gently put more pressure on the trigger until it detonated. The magically charged bullet roared through the damp atmosphere, chirping from the electricity stored in its core. Now Naruto seemed to get my drift as well.

Within miliseconds, we heard a dull 'clang' followed by a loud explosion, and a sea of light pierced the magical darkness. Electric currents ran through the entire hideout as expected, and we anxiously awaited the agonizing roar of a mutant human-shark hybrid that was in the process of being electrocuted.

It never came.

Even after the last trace of the discharge had long since died out, the sewer pipe remained a dark, silent pit of danger and death. I let out an unnerved grunt, with a slight hint of disappointment mixed in. My plans usually didn't fail, and it was because of this fact that I had the hardest time accepting things not going my way. The mere thought of this made me smirk at the irony - there was hardly anything that had gone my way since... Since Angel Witch joined the Black Rose. I realized my mind had drifted off to Sakura again when Naruto mentioned how her help would be much appreciated. I was inclined to agree.

A sudden realization dawned on me. What if the shark-man was not inside this, for lack of a better word, 'sanctuary'? What if he was out in the city and its adjacent woods, hunting for food or... for pleasure?

When I noticed the sudden stench of half-digested fish, it was already too late. As if the collar of my jacket was on a fishing hook, I was suddenly lifted off the ground by an immense pull that tossed me about like a ragdoll, my flailing body sailing off into the darkness. With great strain, I managed to get control over my air-borne state and braced myself for impact. My knees and ankles took a painful blow as they impacted with the rotten concrete remains of a building foundation, as my canvas sneakers did little to reinforce my legs and feet. I looked up just in time to see Naruto crash into a wall that was a few feet to my left, but he, too, quickly scrambled up out of the rubble. Even in the darkness, I could make out the glistening crimson trail of blood that ran from his busted lip to dripping off his chin.

In perfect unison, Naruto and I pulled out our handguns and opened fire to the shady silhouette that had effortlessly flung us around like old pillows. The big, burly brute creature jumped around dodging our rounds, agile as a cat despite its size, like it was some kind of game. It was far too big and too grotesque to be human, even for a mutant. It had no apparent skin - every muscle could be easily told from another, even in what little light we encountered this monster. Its eyes were perfectly round spheres of pure, blood-red desire to kill, its webbed fingers each had a jagged six-inch nail sticking out of them, and its gills dripped with blood and the toxic liquid that also covered the sewer pipe. It opened its mouth to roar at us; three rows of uneven teeth in each jaw, some still with shreds of flesh in the nooks, were enough to rip anything organic to countless scraps of bloody remains with the greatest ease.

The gunfire had apparently aggravated it, as it charged at us on all fours and just barely missed us with an earth-splitting slam of its long tail covered in several bulging veins. I took aim and fired another round, but again the beast dodged fast as the wind. With every leap it took, the earth rumbled, and I only managed to get away from its pounce with a leap to safety of my own. I randomly rushed through several pillars and broken walls, hoping to confuse it long enough to get a clear shot at a weak point.

In all the chaos and destruction, I completely forgot that this... beast had a name, but I was soon reminded when it started speaking in a deep, gurgling voice. "Kisame amused. But enough game. Kisame curious what you do here."

"All this strength and the mind of a two-year old," Naruto said half-annoyed, half-relieved. "This guy really skipped some steps in the evolutionary cycle."

I couldn't help but snicker, but one snarl of the shark man was enough to shut me up. I scraped my throat and pointed my gun at where I thought his heart to be. "Kisame Hoshigaki, you have a kill contract on your head. We are here to fulfill that contract by whatever means possible."

Kisame burst out in feral, mocking laughter that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. He ran a pointed tongue across his teeth, more saliva streaming down his chin. "You unable to kill me even if I sleep. Younglings, useless whelps. Fools. Naive." He paused to lick his teeth again. "Tasty."

"Trust me," Naruto countered with a lot of venom in his voice, "I could make you experience a pain you have never felt before in your entire life - slowly being decimated on a cellular level by particles of dark energy. How does that sound for a trip to the afterlife?"

Kisame snarled. "Liar liar, Kisame says. You try but fail. You lose."

"Your funeral, pal."

The sudden cold shift in the air sent shivers up my spine, and even though I was supposed to be used to the sensation by now, I always felt this way when Naruto tapped into his vast dark energy reserves. I could see every fibre in his body twitch and shake while he built up the pressure, grunting and breathing heavily. Kisame looked genuinely curious now, tilting his head with a half-amused, half-amazed expression on what I guess should be called his face. The foul stench of half-devoured carcasses was expelled by the smell of sulfur and blood as Naruto summoned the magical power from the core of his being, fusing it with his wind-based elemental magic and finally unleashing it in all its fury.

Kisame's initial movement revealed that he intended to simply dodge the blast like he had dodged all of our bullets. Too bad for him that a simple swerve to the left was not nearly enough to evade one of Naruto's more powerful dark energy attacks, I thought with a wicked smirk. When the shark mutant reached this conclusion for himself, he was already too late to avoid damage. The large leap he attempted could not stop the shockwave of the blast catching on to his legs, tearing at the muscles with countless tiny cuts.

The beast screeched, I suspected from both the intense pain and the sheer shock of being vulnerable. Unable to support his immense weight, Kisame fell to his knees with eyes wide from witnessing his own blood. It was a sight to behold to see such a fearsome creature in a state of pure terror, but at the same time, I was glad that the tables had turned in our favor again. I briefly looked at Naruto, signaling him that it was time. We both replaced our regular ammo with a magazine of special rounds; bullets that had the logo of the Order engraved in the body, making our executions a legitimate kill for the Black Rose.

"Kisame Hoshigaki, as the Assassin's Code permits, you are allowed one last chance to speak before your life will be ended," I stated with more force than was needed, while my partner and I both aimed our guns on Kisame's head. Mutant or not, the eyes always remained a vulnerable hit point.

Aside from the heavy breaths and an occasional grunt, Kisame remained silent. But there was something about the malicious smirk gradually growing on his face that unnerved me. He was up to something, which shouldn't be a surprise; we were dealing with a mutant shark man here, and nothing was ever easy on this planet. In fact, I doubted there was anyone I could really trust beyond this order of mine (although life had proven that assumption wrong before, I remembered with a flash of bubblegum pink).

"Congratulations," Kisame panted with surprising clarity. "You actually managed to hurt me, Sasuke. Very impressive."

I tensed up when the shark man mentioned my name. With every passing second, I found out more reasons why this creature had to be put down, and now 'knowing too much' could be added to that list as well. I ignored Naruto's witty remark on his sudden verbal improvement and strode towards the incapitated mutant.

"Who are you," I demanded with venom in my voice, putting my gun less than an inch from his eye. "And I mean who you really are."

"I am Kisame Hoshigaki," he answered. "I am a mutated human-shark hybrid conceived by years of intensive genetic experimentation." He paused a second, anxiously looking at my trigger finger twitching. "I live to kill. I killed my father and roamed the lands until Kabuto Yakushi took me under his wing."

Naruto had to stop me from pulling the trigger the second I heard that name. I grunted in frustration, but Kisame ignored it and continued his story.

"Yakushi"- again, I had the worst difficulty not ending his life right that instant - "introduced me to an assassin's organisation called Disciples of the Moon's Eye. I had no experience as an assassin, and no desire to learn the ways of killing on demand. But this posed no problem to the leader of the Disciples, who gladly took me up in his ranks and allowed me to live my life however I pleased. I made a deal with him that I would hunt and live on my own, taking only one contract a month to maintain my rank as a member of the Disciples."

Kisame fell silent. If I didn't know better, he looked... guilty.

"My first contract demanded the life of a very interesting individual. A man that I knew from a dark past. I remembered his name, but there was no memory of where I knew it from. Then it hit me. He was the man that freed me from my tank, and calmed me after I went on a rampage. He made me realize that I was not merely another mutant cast into Hell itself, a man that made me realize that I was more than a killing machine in organic form." He sighed, and if one saw through his frightening appearance, he looked almost human.

"Assassins are killing machines in organic form," Naruto remarked kind of deadpan. "Usually they just remain human enough to snog each other every now and then, calling it 'love' for lack of a better word."

I glared at the blonde, for this was not the right time to be the funny, witty sarcastic guy he could be. He shrugged, unsure of what he did wrong, and I decided to ignore him and focus on Kisame. "Who was that man that you were contracted to kill?"

Kisame looked me straight in the eye with the most human look I had ever seen in a mutant. He looked so fragile and vulnerable, almost like an angsty teenager who wanted to find out what it felt like to kill and was horrified by the remorse. "I was ordered to kill Jiraiya of the Black Rose."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Cliffhangers are my buddies. True story. Good plot twists... not so much. I hope you enjoy crappy ones at least about as much, because I have a lot more in store.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

_"Paid to kill, die and you lose: hunter, hunted - which are you?"_

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><p>Naruto and I both stood nailed to the ground, numbed by the shock. Every time I thought my life couldn't possibly become crazier, the truth hit me in the face like a sledgehammer with the force of a thousand horse powers. The wounds of our master's death, though treated with the best care possible, were still fresh; the mention of his name was enough to send us through a very painful trip down memory lane. And in Naruto's case, a very infuriating one.<p>

He walked right up to Kisame and kicked him in the face as hard as he could. Naruto was breathing unevenly and heavily, mourning and anger both struggling for domination of his senses. The air around him was cold as ice, but I had a hunch that his trembling wasn't from the chill in the air. No, the blonde was seething. He managed to contain himself while Kisame scrambled back up, which proved harder than he had anticipated, even when calculating his leg injuries. Naruto walked up to him again, but I stopped my best friend from harming the mutant man to grant him a chance to speak. I beckoned him to continue.

"I was ordered to kill Jiraiya, but I never took that contract," Kisame clarified with a relieved gaze. "I knew I simply couldn't kill the man that had meant so much to me." He gulped, carefully eyeing the demon host in front of him, who seemed to calm down now that he knew Kisame wasn't responsible. He grunted, but made no inclination towards physical violence anymore.

"Our superiors have witnessed Kabuto Yakushi delivering the killing blow to our master," I said truthfully. Kisame nodded.

"He did. I refused the contract and they tried to torture me into taking it. The Disciples really wanted that guy to die in a very violent way. In the end, they let me off the hook, but not before I had sworn myself a lifetime of servitude to the Master without any means of getting paid."

"They turned you into a slave?" Naruto couldn't believe what he heard. "Moon's Eye hit a new low."

"Probably because I'm not human," Kisame replied bitterly. "Anyway. There was no one in the entire organisation that didn't treat me like utter scum from that day on. I was back at square one: I served no purpose to no one. I spent a lot of time thinking. Then I realized that if I can't be of value to my allies, that makes me an enemy. I sought means to contact your master in secret and sold a lot of valuable classified information about the Disciples to the Black Rose. I provided that intel that Point Blank was going to get attacked. I provided that intel about Orochimaru."

Kisame explained how he had tried to assassinate Kabuto multiple times, even putting aside his pride and trying a stealthy approach (apparently, assassination attempts on fellow members was fairly common in the ranks of our enemy). Everything had proven ineffective, which was no surprise. But Kisame had soon switched his main objective from taking Kabuto's life to finding out where his weaknesses were. He had artificially turned himself into a gruesome abomination, yes, but like everything in this world, that came with consequences.

Kisame smirked. "I gradually found out Yakushi is nowhere near invincible."

"Now you're talking. What did you find out?" Okay, I hadn't planned on sounding so eager. But right now, I wanted to kill my former friend so badly that I hardly noticed, much less cared about the way my voice sounded. At the same time, I wondered what in the world could be so powerful that it was capable of annihilating a creature that even survived direct impact with a dark energy attack. Weren't we taught in Kakashi's magic school that dark energy was by far the most powerful magical substance known to mankind? Wasn't Naruto schooled on 'safely' (in the most relative possible sense of the term) using it by the master of magic, Jiraiya, himself?

Kisame opened his mouth to reply, but was stopped dead in his tracks by the sound of a handgun being armed to fire. Naruto and I instantly whipped out our guns in perfect sync, but my nearly beat through my chest. Had we been so sloppy that we didn't even notice someone (I was pretty sure non-human creatures didn't use handguns, vampires excluded) sneaking up on us, or was it this person's specialty to lurk in the darkness and strike when it was time?

The shady silhouette stepped into the light of the moon, revealing its identity to us.

"I thought I had been pretty clear in our agreement," Neji Hyuuga said, his voice angry and more evil than I had heard him in our brief encounter. His cousin stepped out of the nightly shadows as well, the lunar light making her delicate features look more beautiful, but icy cold at the same time. She, too, was aiming her shotgun - which was larger than I remembered, now that I thought of it - at the back of Kisame's skull.

Naruto snarled. "I should've known. Never trust a pretty girl with a big fucking gun."

"Under any other circumstances, I'd be flattered," Hinata said sickly sweet. Neji snickered while starting to pace up and down, twirling his handgun around his finger. He observed us, staring down on us like he had just caught us in a very compromising position. I mentally nudged Naruto to change his target, while I kept the girl under fire.

"It appears we're at a stalemate," Neji mused. His calm voice irked me beyond all reason. "But I suppose I should be grateful."

This had been the moment I had been waiting for. On our way here, I had decided not to let the doubts about this contract get the better of me, but there was one major issue with this whole scene that I had found fishy (no pun intended) from the first second we parted ways with the Hyuugas: they were freelance assassins and part time Ghoul Hunters. Which would suggest they were in possession of at least some skill with firearms and experience with killing.

So why didn't they take the contract for themselves and shoot this bastard to hell without ever contacting the Black Rose in the first place? Unless they were out to get us in particular, this whole thing made no sense at all. Naruto growled in frustration, following my train of thought in our trademark way.

Meanwhile, Neji had walked back to Kisame, who was still down on his knees, and patted the mutant on the head. I could see the anger this invoked, but the shark man couldn't do a thing without being treated a shotgun shell to the brain. But if he would have been able to, I was sure that Neji wouldn't have had that hand anymore (or his entire arm for that matter). It only added to his cruelty factor to humiliate Kisame like this and get some evident enjoyment out of it.

"You're a smart man, Uchiha," he said, still playing with his handgun. "I was surprised you didn't ask me right away why we didn't kill this guy ourselves."

"I was considering it."

He smiled overly politely. "Of course you were. Listen - because I like you, I'll tell you a little secret. Hinata, if you will." The girl nodded and stomped on Kisame's left calf, which was still pretty much in pieces. The mutant roared in agony, but Neji kneed him in the face to shut him up.

"Our mutant friend kept dodging our bullets," she said a little maniacally. "So Neji devised a plan to get a - no, _the - _famous dark energy user to incapitate him and hopefully finish him off as well."

Neji started pacing up and down again. "We figured if there's anyone who could be able to pull it off, it's the infamous Naruto Uzumaki. But when I come around to check if there's fish sticks for dinner yet, I find our two hired guns playing all friendly with their target."

"And this is why I hate freelancers. They think they invented the concept of intelligence, yet they have no fucking idea in the world what the hell they're talking about," Naruto said to me. I had the greatest difficulty suppressing a smirk. Now was not really the time for jokes, but seeing how easy it was to get on the male Hyuuga's nerves was amusing, at least. The cocky smirk he had been sporting had been swept off his face in one snide comment.

"Then by all means make us understand, master assassin."

"If he did, I'd have to kill him."

Everyone turned to look for the source of the new voice, dropping their guards in the process which was the first thing you were taught to avoid in Assassin preschool. Naruto used his Aerial Leap ability to tackle and disarm Hinata's fragile form. He quickly subdued her, even though it required more force to do so than he initially expected. Meanwhile, I swiftly aimed for Neji's right leg and fired, shattering his kneecap. While the long-haired freelancer writhed in pain, I looked up to see who our savior was, and my jaw literally dropped.

"Evening, boys," Sakura said feigning nonchalance. "Thanks for leaving me at HQ without so much as a goodbye."

"What the fuck - What are you doing here?"

"Pulling your worthless, incapable asses out of the shit you got yourselves into." The fire in her eyes was not predicting any good news anytime soon. I opened my mouth to retort that our contract specifically stated that Naruto and I had to handle it, but then I realized that that was no valid excuse why we didn't drop by to say we were leaving. And I wasn't going to deny that her timing couldn't have been any more perfect, because it was quite a predicament we had gotten ourselves into. So instead I just closed my mouth again, and decided to kick Neji in the liver to let off some steam. Besides, the arrogant bastard kind of had it coming.

Naruto pulled a struggling Hinata to her feet while I checked on Kisame. The latter was still in pain, which was no surprise, but with the huge amounts of adrenaline in his blood and his inborn sturdiness he managed to get to his feet without my aid. Sakura performed some basic medical magic so he could walk, which would ease the burden Naruto already had to carry. It was another one of those things that we were learned in Assassin Bootcamp - always having one member on your party with both hands free increases your chances of survival in case of an ambush. Naruto's inhuman strength made him an obvious choice for a packing mule, as he could easily carry several times his weight, but two grown humans and a two-ton mutant was probably pushing it.

Speaking of Naruto. The blonde had disarmed Hinata and tossed her huge shotgun at Sakura, who caught it without effort. He then proceeded to blindfold the girl, as was standard procedure for interrogation subjects, but the accomplished smirk on the face of the Hyuuga girl ticked me off. There was something wrong here, but I couldn't put my finger on the source of my suspicions. Sakura confirmed them, however. She sighed, annoyed, and shoved my best friend away from the other girl. She took a syringe from her satchel and jabbed it into Hinata's arm, ignored the latter's painful hiss and turned to us.

"What the fuck do we have an intel department for if you do jack shit with it?"

My stammering was overpowered by Hinata's agonizing screech. "_What in the name of everything that is holy did you do to my eyes, you cheap cockwhore!_"

Sakura, unfazed by the girl's insults, patted her on the head. "Forgotten about me, have you? Isn't that unfortunate." She showed no intention of elaborating what that syringe had to do with the apparent history she had with the Hyuuga girl, until Naruto broke the tense silence between us.

"Er, what _did_ you do, Sakura?"

Sakura let out another irritated sigh. "The Hyuuga family - I suppose I should use the word 'clan', as that's what they like to use when referring to themselves - are pretty much notorious for their visual mutations. They never bothered to find out if arrogance also comes with that, but the fact remains that their superior sight is the main reason they make such damn effective assassins that they think organised assassination is a waste of time." She injected a crippled Neji with the same venom she pumped into Hinata's system. "In short, they have X-ray eyes. But very special X-ray eyes. They can see through skin, flesh, fabric, wood, iron and even stone."

"And the syringes?" I asked.

"The syringes block the neural system around their eyes," Sakura responded before donning a wicked smirk. "Permanently."

Naruto and I didn't even bother to voice our admiration, because both Neji and Hinata went completely haywire. It took another sedative from Sakura's satchel of syringes to qualify them for basic transportation, and even though Naruto's strong arms would be able to restrain both freelancers to a point, Hinata's strength was unaccounted for.

"Thank _god_," the rosette finally said after the two cousins lay still at our feet. They were still conscious, but limp as a ragdoll and much like the dead weight (literally) Naruto usually carried around when retrieving bodies for ID and autopsy. She smirked as she looked down on the female part of the duo. "But don't worry, sweetie, if you promise to be a good girl I'll patch up your pathetic, incestuous asses just fine. Promise."

I decided it was time to do something useful as well and informed Kisame that we were required to bring him in for interrogation as well, but that no further harm would be necessary if he willingly submitted himself to the process of restraining and blindfolding. The shark man agreed without a second of thought and didn't struggle when I bound his hands (or claws, whatever) on his back and obscured his eyes with a simple-looking, but very high density fabric that was specifically designed to block light in any way, shape or form.

And so it came to be that a nineteen-year-old female assassin made her way back to base, carrying approximately five firearms in various classes and calibers, and with a cuffed and blindfolded, limping shark-human mutant, a blond demon host carrying two adult human bodies and a raven-haired sharpshooter in her wake. Not a word was spoken throughout the entire trip, and the few weird looks we received were glared off in triplicate. It annoyed the hell out of me, to be honest - I couldn't stand this silence in the least. I wanted to know why she was being the way she was. I wanted to know what this distance represented. I wanted her to explain.

_"The fuck's with Sakura that she's not all over you?"_ Naruto asked through our mental connection. I sighed.

Great.

Even the emotionally dense as a rock knucklehead (maybe this was kind of exaggerated by now, but let's just call it a force of habit to view him like that) had noticed that something was up.

I ignored my best friend as much as was possible by paying a little too much attention to the sounds and movements around us to be considered instinctive awareness. Truth was, I didn't have the slightest idea what had gotten into that head of hers, no matter how much I back-tracked my actions and words. But I was going to find out. No more excuses and second thoughts - right after we dropped off tonight's catch, I was going to have a chat with the rosette who had, god forbid, stolen my heart. The rosette who was well on her way to crushing my heart, with or without her knowledge. I was going to find out.

Tonight.

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

I'm a day late. Why? Because it was Queen's Day yesterday, which is a national holiday in the land of the Dutchies. So I was too busy drinking the last of my brain cells to death. Sorry y'all. Also, I kind of sort of broke up with my girlfriend, but not really, which explains the excessive alcohol consumption. Anyway, enjoy.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	26. Chapter Twenty Six

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

_"Still dancing with your demons, a victim of your own creation..."_

* * *

><p>Interrogation sessions were my least favorite part of my job. Even though I was immune to the generally brutal torture methods Itachi and certainly Kakashi practiced on their subjects by now, it still came down to standing around doing absolutely nothing and watching a victim slowly breaking until eventually spilling their guts. Itachi preferred the use of old-fashioned physical abuse, but Kakashi preferred the more violent approach of using his magic abilities in memory modification and mental torture. Which he was doing right now. He was standing in front of a restrained Neji, staring deep into the latter's unseeing eyes and unfolding the most horrifying scenarios in his head, each resulting in agonizing screeches and uncontrolled shaking. I was about to grab another espresso when the Hyuuga finally broke down and was granted his ability to speak again.<p>

I sighed. There was little, if anything at all, my brother and his partner in crime managed to extract from their subject. A few structural and tactical weaknesses in the Moon's Eye headquarters, their recent experiments, the way the Hyuuga clan operates. How they had known Naruto was a dark energy user remained vague, as he was not admitting to much more than following a few local rumors that the Black Rose practiced dark energy magic.

In other words, pretty much the same we got out of the girl. Even in these cruel circumstances, Itachi liked to practice basic chivalry, more specifically the 'ladies first' principle.

After Neji was escorted out by Shizune for treatment (his kneecap was still shattered, as neither of us deemed it necessary to get it fixed up before interrogation), I gave in to the roaring caffeine-demanding monster inside my stomach and poured some of the genetically mutated coffee beans into the grinder that would in turn process them into the black liquid that kept me alive. At least Kisame's interrogation would be a lot more interesting to watch.

Then Sakura rushed by, still showing no indication of engaging in basic social interaction with me, and suddenly Kisame's interrogation session seemed bland and boring. I was too busy being hypnotized by the way her pink locks danced to the beat of her step, and before I knew it, I dropped the coffee beans on the counter and rushed after her, keeping a ten-feet distance between us. She was listening to her iPod and hadn't caught on to me following her yet, but it was as if she felt someone was behind her because she picked up her pace as soon as she turned the corner.

While following the pink-haired girl that was making off with my heart in her grasp on instincts alone, I was running the possible scenarios that could unfold through in my mind. She could be relieved that I finally got around talking to her. She could be angry for having the guts to even consider it in the first place. She could be trying to evade the topic at all costs. She could even try to kill me.

Hell, for all I knew, she was waiting around the corner with a gun aimed for my -

As soon as I turned the corner, my thoughts were interrupted by something cold and hard poking my forehead. I winced and look up to see what hit me, and was met by Sakura's eyes.

But they were nothing like the eyes I had fallen in love with.

She was looking down on me, even though I topped her by a good ten inches, and there was little to suggest that the passion, or any positive emotion towards me for that matter, still lingered inside her heart. I gulped.

It didn't help that I was indeed looking over the barrel of a loaded firearm pointing at a spot somewhere in between my eyes.

I was petrified. The cold stare in her eyes was nothing like I'd ever seen before, and I've seen enough death glares, tears of desperation and evil killing intent in people's eyes (okay, that's stretching it - a fair share of the creatures I'd looked in the eye could hardly be classified as human) to last me a lifetime. Still, this look, these eyes... It appeared as if they were a one-sided window, a portal into a dimension full of suffering, of apathy, of loss and constant agony.

My mouth opened, yet no wave of sound ever hit the solid stone walls of the corridor we found ourselves in. Sakura still stood there, unyielding, void of any emotion or body language, like the faceless, merciless killing machines we were supposed to be. My eyes shot to her index finger, hoping to catch a twitch of her trigger finger - usually a sign of hesitation - but I had to break off my observation five disappointing seconds later. She didn't twitch once. My eyes darted from the empty hallways to the closed doors and the hard floor that would be covered in blood and pieces of Uchiha brain if I wasn't very careful in my approach.

I blinked the initial shock away, got myself together and looked back at her slender figure. The gun didn't actually faze me at all, nor did the possibility that I would be knocking on the gates of Hell within a time span of now and two seconds.

The thing that really shook me was this drone that the love of my life had become.

"You better have a good fucking reason to be stalking me to the only place I have some goddamn privacy." Her tone was as dead as her eyes.

"We seriously need to talk."

"Do we now?" She said, feigning curiosity. "Tell me, master assassin, what makes you think that this talking will make me reconsider my intention to put a bullet in your insolent, worthless skull?"

That stung. More than it should have. "Sakura -"

"Don't 'Sakura' me. If I shoot my friends in the head, I don't use blanks. Try me."

At this point, I didn't really care anymore just what I said. "There's no way I'm losing you. Not again."

_Smooth as balls, Uchiha._

She glared at me. And unless the burning sensation inside of me that people had once called 'love' had really turned me into a walking disaster waiting to happen - talk about kicking in an open door, I thought briefly - that look in her eyes was a look of genuine hatred if there ever was one. I tried to read her, to figure out whether or not she actually planned on pulling that trigger, and if so when.

So far, the only thing that had become clear was to _not fuck up_.

I considered disarming her. I could execute around twenty non-lethal disarming moves for the distance between me and her and the direction she was facing, with damage varying from bruises to broken bones and unconsciousness. But hurting the Haruno girl didn't seem like such a good idea, considering what happened the last time.

Time seemed to move ridiculously slow at this point. In this vacuum of no more than three square feet, the laws of time and basic physics did not apply. I had the most difficulty figuring out how she managed to look so dead and at the same time, so infuriated. She was impossible to read, though.

All I could manage was a weak "Why?"

I saw the muscles in her trigger finger tense, slowly pulling on the piece of metal that would end my life before I even had a chance to see the tear that started to well up in her eye. Then I ducked, swooped her legs off the ground in one smooth move, but instead of rising and delivering a blow to the stomach, I kicked the gun down the hallway and caught the owner of the gun before her body hit the ground. Without hesitation, I moved in and slammed my lips on hers before she could catch on to what was going on and reject it.

It would turn out to be the wettest kiss we ever shared, mainly because we both were crying tears of either joy or relief.

Actually, I wouldn't know what the hell I was crying about to save my life, but at this point it was the least of my concerns. Pain, suffering, fear, relief, anger, envy, sadness - whatever it was that I was feeling, I found comfort in the lips I was kissing at this moment. And from the looks of it, so did she.

After we broke off, Sakura's back was resting against a wall, and we somehow moved from one end of the hallway to the other. How, when and why we didn't know, but it felt good. It felt like it had been the right thing to do.

"Sasuke..."

I looked into her eyes.

_Those eyes._

"Sasuke, I'm so sorry..."

Those eyes that kept so many secrets, about life, about happiness, about all the good things in the world.

"Hey, asswipe, are you listening?"

"What?" I snapped back to reality and saw a glimpse of amusement before it disappeared as quickly as it came. I desperately hoped that I wasn't yet another illusion my mind played on me out of wishful thinking.

"I apologize for leading you on. I shouldn't have done that - I mean, I... you... If we go through with this - you know, us - who knows what might happen."

Now it was my turn to smile weakly. "Darling, you and I are both assassins, remember? Highly trained in firearms, martial arts, poisoncrafting, hacking skills and sneaking? In my humble opinion, I think we should be capable of looking after ourselves."

She allowed a small smile. "You have a valid point, sir." She tiptoed and pecked me on the lips before sighing and staring off into the distance. "There's some things I want to discuss with you."

"Shoot," I replied without realizing the horribly ironic pun. A small smile shot across her lips.

"This... _thing_ between us that we created... What is it, really? Are we only going to end up hurting each other?" She paused to think for a brief moment. "This relationship between us. If it were a guest at the Devil's dance in Hell, is it really worth the risk for it to dance with the demons that are aiming to kill it the second it stops dancing? I mean, wouldn't it be easier to run away, instead of becoming the victim of our own creation?"

I gently gripped both of Sakura's shoulders at the same time and looked deep into her eyes. "Sakura, I love you. Listen - If we were standing on a rooftop and you lost your balance, I would catch you at the risk of my own life the moment you left the edge." My forehead touched hers now. "Whether or not the wings of our feelings take me, I would still take the step."

She gulped.

"Don't look down, Sakura," I pleaded. "Take the step. With me."

"Sasuke... I..." She couldn't utter anything else at the moment, but her gaze told me everything I needed to know. Those emerald gems crafted by the Gods themselves, so pristine that a sinner like myself should be forbidden to ever lay eyes upon beauty in such a pure form, much less claim the exclusive right to read those eyes like I did. And here I was. "What if the wings won't take us?"

"Well, heights don't phase me, personally. I'd enjoy the fall."

Take the risk and enjoy the ride while it lasts. Kind of like life in general, but we accepted that when we first picked up those guns.

I embraced her and breathed in the scent of her hair along with the fresh underground air from the hallways of our headquarters. Yes, we were taking a huge risk. But then again, whether it was Sakura, Naruto or Itachi, either could be captured and tortured if someone wanted to hurt me. Either could be killed to send me into a frenzy of suffering. And all were capable of defending themselves to such an extent that the possibility of one of them getting captured never even occurred to me. Even though Itachi was mortally wounded by Kabuto not too long ago, and even though I had come close to losing both Naruto and Sakura on more than one occasion, I was confident enough in my and their abilities to trust in a good outcome.

She looked up to me. "I love you, Sasuke. My mysterious Black Rose."

Damn, she looked cute with that little blush on her cheeks. I smiled. Satisfied.

Happy.

"I love you too, Sakura. My sweet Angel Witch."

With one last hug, we set course to meet the others and see the results of Kisame's interrogation. I half-expected either Naruto, Kiba, Suigetsu or Itachi to be standing next to us and witnessing the entire scene, but immediately slapped myself in my head for thinking in such overused movie and literature cliches. I wrapped my arm around Sakura's form, who didn't flinch at the touch of our bodies this time - instead, she rested her arm on my lower back and briefly laid her head on my shoulder.

As we would soon find out, Naruto had been sent to get me to the conference room as soon as possible, and he was allowed to use force if necessary. Which led me to think Kisame's interrogation did turn up something very valuable and equally confidential. We ran into the blond demon host halfway to the interrogation chamber, and the look on his face when he sensed our happy demeanor and saw the close physical interaction between us was indescribable. I doubted there was any word in any language that could adequately capture strong feelings of surprise, relief, amusement, affection and slight envy in just letters and articulation.

Naruto quickly explained why I was needed and that Sakura could come with me if she'd want to, but she politely declined. We parted ways with a quick peck on the lips (Naruto's eyes rolled in their sockets in an amusingly mocking way), thanked my best friend and bid them goodbye before setting off to the conference room. Itachi, Kakashi, Kurenai, Tsunade and the boys from intel were already there.

I had a bad feeling that this had something to do with Kisame mentioning how he had discovered the trick to beating the unbreakable Kabuto.

Whenever it involved that treacherous asshole in any way, I immediately started to doubt my integrity as an assassin. As much as I wanted that treacherous asshole to die violently, just putting a bullet through his skull would be too easy for all the pain and havoc he has caused my loved ones. If anything, I'd rip him to shreds with my bare hands. But I was dead sure that the instant satisfaction of feeling his muscles tear with force would instantly destroy any semblance of sanity that remained in this darkened heart of mine.

"Sasuke," Kakashi started when I settled down. "The interrogation of Kisame Hoshigaki turned up some very interesting intelligence on Moon's Eye and in particular, the individual known as Kabuto Yakushi."

Okay, that was expected. I nodded for the newly-appointed master to continue.

"We believe" - he started pacing from left to right behind the master's throne in the conference room - "that Kisame may have provided us with the opportunity to finally put an end to the twisted, atrocious violation of Nature's laws that is Kabuto."

I wasn't sure if I could handle the rest. A quick trip down memory lane showed an exhausted Naruto, bewildered that Kabuto not only remained in one piece, but survived the full blast of his most powerful dark energy purge. If that wasn't powerful enough, what in this world was?

Itachi took over at this point. "Sasuke, you and I - and to some extent, that guy over there I have to call my boss now - we have special powers."

"No kidding." I really couldn't help the sarcasm that was a part of me for as long as I could remember. Itachi responded to the remark with a short glare and left it at that.

"Our eyes possess more power than just displaying someone's life force. We can read people's movements almost instantly, and there's more. We spent countless hours of research and an equal amount of resources in discovering this, but what I'm about to tell y-"

"Either cut the crap and tell me where Kabuto comes in or skip the whole deal altogether, Itachi. Damn."

"You two can perform a black magic ritual that is called the Flame of Amaterasu," Shikamaru answered before either Itachi or Kakashi could. "Basically, you enter your victim's mind, appearing as if you enter an imaginary world referred to as Imaginaerum. In Imaginaerum, you summon an avatar of the Demon Fire God Amaterasu that consumes the core of one's existence, leading to self-mutilation until death follows."

"Basically, a big self-destruct button inside his brain," Kurenai summarized. I smirked inevitably; it had slipped my mind how much I actually loved that woman's talent for simplifying matters to the extreme.

"And Kisame figured all that out by observing Kabuto and attempting multiple assassinations?"

I didn't like the hesitating look that went from Itachi to Kakashi to Kurenai to Tsunade.

"...Kisame figured that out by observing the leader of Moon's Eye performing the technique on what he called 'failed experiments'. We suspect that these were all attempts at creating Kabuto's body before actually mutilating himself."

I squinted my eyes and my breathing picked up a pace. "Does that mean..."

"Afraid so," Itachi said solemnly. "Grandfather Madara isn't as dead as we expected him to be."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

**EDIT: IF SOMEONE, ANYONE, IS FEELING CREATIVE, FEEL FREE TO TAKE UP DRAWING A COVER FOR THIS STORY. The new image manager looks quite cool. I'm afraid I don't have much to offer in return, but we can work something out.**

Yes, yes. I am alive, I am back. I worked a temporary job the past few weeks and spent aforementioned weeks basically writing my ass off about every subject you can imagine. I didn't have much creativity or motivation left to continue writing this story. Anyway, I squeezed this atrocity out in a matter of four days, and I hope it was worth the wait. Ah, who am I kidding. Just take my word for it that it will be better soon.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

_"It's always darkest just before the dawn..."_

* * *

><p>The silence that lingered around us pressed on my eardrums. The time must have been around midnight, judging from the full moon that bathed my comrades and myself in light and cast long nightly shadows on the crushed leaves and dirt of the forest. The tension in the air was thick; not a word was spoken as we slowly trudged through the woods and back to base. There was this feeling of impending danger that kept us all at the top of our game, even though nothing major could happen in this part of the forest. Even a wolf attacking would be a rarity.<p>

Kisame's interrogation and the follow-up research into the astounding results had ignited a new burst of respect for the boys from Intel. They had managed to salvage a lot of information from the old Uchiha family library in the pre-apocalypse estate. Those documents, and a lot of dangerous experiments from the two most experienced assassins in our Order now that Jiraiya was dead, provided me with a lot of stories that were as unbelievable as they were dangerous and a crash course in the use of Imaginaerum.

This new weapon was a fitting trump card to not only end the nuisance that Kabuto brought, but more importantly, to make his so-called 'perfect' body destroy itself. I caught myself enjoying the fictitious image of Kabuto slowly tearing himself apart piece by piece in a pool of his own blood.

"Hey, Sasuke, how long do I have to carry these fuckers around?"

I smirked. Déjà vu.

"Shut up, dobe. We're nearly there."

But this time it was Sakura stealing my line.

Naruto rolled his eyes with an amused sigh, but Sakura remained oblivious to the fact. She was too busy scrubbing stains of blood from her delicate skin. Thankfully, it was not her own, but merely the blood of the contracts that we now carried out three at a time. We were the most efficient assassination cell in the entire country. We quickly made name as Team Seven, referring to the alleged number of perfection and effectiveness in Egyptian mythology. When it first surfaced, Kakashi saw the need to adopt it, and thus Naruto and I became part of two teams within the Black Rose.

Speaking of teams - as much of an admirer Kakashi was of Jiraiya's work, Elementum Vitae was basically split up simply because the new master didn't see the necessity of a team that fought with magic powers. Maybe in time of guild wars it would be an asset, but for simple assassinations, a much more subtle approach was more desirable. Instead, medics like Tsunade, Shizune, Ino and Sakura were often put on teams to not only offer assistance if anything went haywire, but more frequently to teach poison-craft basics to less skilled members of the Order.

Just when I was about to turn around and say something about Sakura stealing my quotes, I noticed the gentle midnight breeze that tickled the leaves and made the forest whisper in a language a mere human could not even begin to understand, and shot a meaningful look to my comrades. The wind rustled with the trees, but none of us could feel it on our skin. In a matter of moments, two guns pointed into the woods, ready to fire at anything that moved should that be deemed necessary.

The wind died out, which unnerved me even more. Someone who was capable of wielding the elements was dangerous, that much had been proven by Naruto, Kiba, Gaara, Suigetsu and to some extent, myself. My eyes darted around, looking for something, anything, that hinted to the presence of someone or something controlling the currents of the air. But even with my special eyes I could not detect the presence of life anywhere near us. From my scowl, Sakura and Naruto knew that there was a reason to worry. Naruto dropped the bodies he had been carrying and quickly drew his own gun.

The deafening ring of silence in my ears was banished in the blink of an eye by the slow playing of a primitive flute. The instrument produced a sound so foreign that I had a hard time placing it, confirming my suspicions that it was not of human origin. It was as if the music of the flute brought the trees to life and lifted the thick tension in the atmosphere, sparking a feeling of serenity and calm inside of me.

Hypnosis.

Then I spotted the source of the music: a male silhouette resting against the thick trunk of a tree a few feet away from us. It handled the flute with such precision and ease, giving away years of training and experience. The music stopped as soon as we noticed the silhouette and as it stepped into the moonlight, I could make out more details such as pointed ears, nimble fingers and slender, aware eyes. My first reaction was a vampire, but soon I realized that the man in front of us did not have the blood red eyes, nor the pale skin, nor the bloodthirsty aura.

"Fear not, strangers, for I mean no harm to you." Sakura lowered her weapon, but Naruto and I didn't trust the strange-looking (mutant?) man just yet. He sighed and a small, understanding and, for lack of a better word, wise smile appeared on his delicate features. "It appears the females of the human race prove themselves the most intelligent gender once more."

A gust of wind knocked the air out of me and I dropped my gun. I jerked back up once I caught my breath and located my weapon in the hands of the strange man. "What do you want," I demanded, building up the heat in the magical core of my body to a point where tiny flames and sparks erupted from my fingertips. This seemed to irk the man.

For the first time I took notice of his features: his long golden brown hair was woven into an elegant braid that rested on a bed of long, loose locks. A traditional bow and a quiver of arrows rested on his back, and even though the weapons looked primitive or even medieval, my instincts told me that these seemingly inconvenient weapons in the hands of this man posed more of a threat than an entire platoon of Moon's Eye assassins with firearms. Thick felt and leather clothes woven with a silver thread protected him from the cold of the night. His eyes were pitch black from pupil to sclera, but so full of life at the same time. His voice was soft and elegant, but fearsome at the same time. "Halhoan ei suoshi telah uhkavat minulia tuhleia, Ihmiset." He spat the last word as if it were an insult.

"Teme, douse the flames." Naruto lowered his gun. "He's speaking Lupiini. We're intruders on the land of his people." He turned back to the man speaking the language of werewolves. "Pyhdan antiiski dor kaveiron ohngelman." I figured this was an apology for my rash behavior, and finally disrupted the flow of magic energy inside me. The man apparently approved of this decision by tossing my gun to me and revoking to English again.

"Good to know that we are on the same terms now, Assassins. Oh, don't act surprised," he remarked in response to me clenching my fists. "These trees have many eyes, and only those who speak their language learn what they see."

"May I ask you something?" Sakura cut in. "Are you one of the mythical elves we hear so much about?"

The man played with his flute and calmly observed Sakura. "Elves? A label placed upon us by humans, satisfying their needs to name everything, even things they cannot begin to comprehend." He took a breath and it appeared as if the forest was breathing with him. "I have been dubbed a myriad of things. 'Witch', 'elf', 'monster', 'druid', 'angel of the forest'. None of these tags adequately describe my people. We are the heartbeat of the forest, like the forest is our heartbeat. We give, we receive. We take, we repent."

The elf invited us to sit down on the dry leaves and dirt, further staining my already dusty and dirty jeans. He offered us his pipe, and after Sakura confirmed that it was safe from traces of poison or other drugs, we smoked elven tobacco that was as mythical as its creators. We listened to the wisdom of nature and the world, often disguised as metaphors with the forest as the main subject.

He told us Elves, as we persisted to call his race, are given three names at birth: one informal name to use in everyday dialogue, one name of Nature that is whispered by the forests when the Elf is born and one name to interact with humans. His Elven name was Saelian, which translated into 'Woodmaster' in our tongue, but we stuck to calling him Yamato as per his request. Yamato was calm and collected, and answered all of our questions like an old sailor talking to young children about his adventures on the seven seas. Which in this case probably wasn't far from the truth.

We also learned that like many others, the elves were on the verge of tribal warfare. Yamato's tribe was one of the stronger, more prominent players in the war, but still suffered heavy losses in the many ambushes that took place in the forests around us. He admitted that at first, he suspected us to be spies of the Rúnmeri, or the Gray Ones as they would be called in English. The Gray Ones used voodoo rituals and other black magic to drain the life force of their enemies, and they were renowned in the Elven world for their animosity towards non-tribes folk or human visitors. They lived in caverns underground, only coming out to feed or to fight, which made them hard to target in an ambush because they had developed the ability to see and hear extraordinarily well in the dark, even for elves.

"One question, Master Elf," Naruto said bluntly. "If these Gray folks stick to their caves and your people live in the forest, then what's the need for war? I mean, if it's not resources or territory you're fighting over, what is your reason for war?"

"Vengeance, young twig," Yamato answered solemnly. "The Rúnmeri need sacrifices for their rituals. Living, breathing sacrifices. Their gods demand a sentient victim that has been acquired through battle, unwilling to give his life in the gods' names." He drew from his pipe and stared off into the distance for a second before continuing. "The Rúnmeri feed on blood. Generally, any kind of blood will satisfy them. But human blood is considered a delicacy in their cuisine."

Naruto, Sakura and I gasped in unison. "You mean to tell us vampires are actually a tribe of elves?" Sakura exclaimed. Naruto and I both frowned and clenched our fists.

"Patience, younglings," Yamato said. "Only Nature decides when to stroke the leaves of a tree with a gentle breeze and when to unleash her fury upon the forest with a mighty storm in an attempt to tear off the same leaves it caressed moments before." He took a few breaths again before continuing. "The Rúnmeri have seized many good men from my people and slaughtered them in their twisted rituals. Too many. For countless years we have striven to keep the peace, flimsy as it was, but the Rúnmeri have proven themselves a rotten tree that can only be rescued through its demise. The king of the Erdmeri, my king, refuses to stand idly by and watch as our brethren are robbed of their chance to bloom."

I sat frozen to the spot, the pipe with elven tobacco - as precious as it was delicious - dropping to the dirt of the forest with a soft thud. Even though open warfare between the mythical Wood Elves and the vampires whom we had learned were also a race of elves would be of zero concern or interest to our guild, it had to be evident by now that elves and vampires clashing would put a significant strain on our line of work. Most people did not even know of the Wood Elves' existence, let alone their capabilities as warriors, assassins and scouts. But vampires running through the streets at night constantly looking for either a Wood Elf in disguise or simply a victim to feed on would definitely interfere with our business.

"I know what you are thinking, youngling," Yamato said upon noticing my inner turmoil. "Allow me to reassure you, so I may relieve you of your doubts like the forest relieves mine." He bent over to pick up the pipe, making no sound whatsoever while doing so, and reignited it. "The races of Meri share a common battleground in the mountains, right at the center of the world. If anything, a state of total war would only benefit your... business."

Having visibly calmed down, Naruto and I looked at each other. No vampires meant no looking over our shoulders expecting the damn leeches to jump out to feast on our fresh veins. As for the period after the war with the Wood Elves, the vampires would be significantly weakened which would make them easier to kill.

After smoking the remnants of the tobacco Yamato had so generously shared with us, Sakura, Naruto and I made our way back to base and bade the Elf good fortune. As we watched him retreat into the shadows, I closely observed and memorized his movements; his foot placement and the jumping techniques he used to get up into the treetops faster than a squirrel would have gotten. I would have to teach myself how to do that the next time I decided to sit a few contracts out.

Naruto picked up the bodies we had taken for identification with a disgruntled sound. I shot him a mental heads-up.

"Nothing, these bastards are just fucking heavy, that's all."

Sakura huddled close to me, snapping me out of my musings on nothing in particular and making me notice that the night had turned a lot colder after meeting the Wood Elf, and that the silence had once again come over us. I made no effort to break it; I enjoyed the peaceful tranquility of silence, even more than I loved silencing someone forever by ironically breaking the silence for one brief moment.

Our lives were full of contradictions.

Sakura looked up to me, her eyes full of happiness, and for the first time in my life, I wished my best friend with whom I have been to the ninth layer of Hell and back would just… disappear. For now. So I could enjoy a nightly walk with the girl (woman, girl - the hot chick with the pink hair next to me) I loved.

We entered the outskirts of the urban district, where no one really looked at you weirdly when a young couple accompanied by a tall blond carrying three bodies passed through. Prostitutes stood on every corner of the streets, hoping that one customer was wise enough to choose their services over the other girls or transsexuals (some people had the weirdest fetishes).

On our way to the old enchanted door that granted us entrance to HQ, we ran into Hinata and Neji. Instinctively, I reached for my weapon, but Neji's friendly smile told me that they meant no harm. He reassured me that seeing as their contract had been taken care of in a sense, they had no reason to be hostile anymore. I couldn't help but notice the way Naruto looked at the Hyuuga girl and figured it must be the same look I had when looking at Sakura. The male Hyuuga agreed to grab a few beers the next time we ran into each other, because now was obviously not the right time, he had said while nodding at the bodies Naruto carried.

Even Sakura and Hinata were friendly to each other, though it a little more forced than normal.

Come to think of it, she had never told me about her history with the shotgun-wielding girl. I made a mental note to myself to ask her as soon as we were done with the briefing.

We parted ways with the Hyuuga duo, made sure that they didn't follow us even though they appeared to have no reason or desire to, and quickly arrived at the door. I knocked on the worn rose symbol in a specific pattern, and the door swung open. Shizune was waiting there, as usual, to pick up the bodies and send us to our direct superior. Itachi congratulated us on a job well done and sent us off with our weekly payment to spend on supplies, weapons and basically whatever the fuck we wanted to spend it on.

"Oh, one more thing," Itachi said as we turned our backs to leave. "Kakashi is ready to get the blood contract signed. He's still working on the final details, but it won't be long until he's done."

"Got it," I said with a smile. Finally, Naruto could put this black chapter in his history to rest. His history of losing people he loved. First his parents, then Jiraiya, and I came close to dying on several occasions myself. And even though he didn't show it anymore, he still had a tough time coping with the previous grand master dying.

Naruto grinned and walked out of the door, only to bump into a tall man whose face was hidden by a scarf and buried under the hood of a long black cloak. In a blink of an eye, five guns were pointed at the unknown intruder's head (traditionally, the guild master inherited the dual AMT .50AE AutoMag V handguns from the previous owner).

The man raised his hand, but he never got the chance to do anything with it; Naruto stepped in with his Aerial Leap - the one that he had mastered like no other - and worked his opponent to the ground with a move that we were taught in Assassination preschool. While the blond used his demonic strength to keep the intruder in check, Kakashi yanked the hood and scarf off his face.

Naruto released the man from the sheer shock.

Then again, I think anyone would, knowing what we know – or we thought we knew. Although we had seen and experienced some weird shit in our lives, this really took the cake.

Naruto dropped his gun and looked the man in the eye.

"...Dad?"

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

**IF SOMEONE, ANYONE, IS FEELING CREATIVE, FEEL FREE TO TAKE UP DRAWING A COVER FOR THIS STORY. I'm sure we can work something out in reward of your efforts.**

Let's see here. We have one young couple fallen in love recently, one master assassin that is only now taking up the official title, one orphan whom may have been living a lie for the past decade, and one mystery man who appears to be a dead man.

Oh, the drama I foresee.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

_"Yesterday seems as though it never existed..."_

* * *

><p>Boom.<p>

_The ground shook with every magical cannonball that our roof withstood. There was little I could do to further reinforce the barriers that dampened the impact on the structure, and I knew I would soon have to face an unknown number of attackers on my own. I cursed under my breath, drawing my custom-built Walther P99 handgun from its holster with respect. It was the first gun I had built myself, many years ago, when I was no older than twelve years old. _

Boom.

_Dust fell from the ceiling as the assailants kept firing a barrage of magic at the safe house. I sighed and checked the magazine, counting the bullets. Eight .44 rounds. I hadn't been able to fit more into the magazine. It had taken me a long time to finally get the knack of it, but Jiraiya's unending patience had boosted my morale enough to finish this project. The result: a semi-automatic, single-fire handgun firing revolver bullets. Old Tobirama would have been proud. _

Boom.

_I took cover behind the couch and used a little magic to conjure an artificial shadow that concealed the entire room in a comfortable darkness. I didn't have any special eye ability like the young Uchiha boy Jiraiya had taken under his wing recently, so I couldn't use a completely dark room, but it would buy me the split second I needed to get the upper hand on my attacker. The twilight was just enough for me to use my Shadowstep magic as well. _

Boom!

_A ball of pure energy burst through the ceiling with a louder bang than it should naturally make, due to the reinforced barrier of magic that it broke through. I had rigged the barrier so that it would detonate in a shock-wave the moment it was penetrated, hopefully damaging any heavy artillery the enemy would bring. Apparently it worked, because the magic fire that the energy ball had ignited had long smoldered before the first enemies poured through the breach it had created. I took advantage of the split second they needed to coordinate their movements, firing two well-placed head-shots before vanishing on the spot. This startled a third opponent into staggering backwards, allowing me to Shadowstep behind him and slice his neck with my traditional wrist-blade - one that I had inherited from the Assassins of old. _

_As soon as the second wave of enemies poured in, I vanished again, living up to the moniker of 'Flying Shadow God' the boys of the Rose had given me. I created a diversion by intentionally showing myself on the opposite end of the room before Shadowstepping to the other, giving me another four clean shots in the back. With only two bullets left, I realized I had to make them count - but destroying the entire place by shooting the explosives in the floor seemed a little too extreme. _

_I smirked involuntarily. Jiraiya was a great man, but his ideas were a little overkill at times. Especially when dealing with such a small force. Figures for a group like Lunar Eclipse; always underestimating their enemy. Even if they were some of the top ranking assassins from the leading organisation in the business._

_With a little too much strain on my magical resources, I managed to outclass the remaining seven enemies with a few well-placed throwing knives, a clean by-the-book head-shot and a simple execution to leave no witnesses after interrogating the guy that looked like he was in charge._

_Assessing the damage, I cursed. I was going to have a hell of a hard time explaining yet another gas explosion to the insurance guys, and it wasn't like they were going to believe a small army of magicians attacked us because I killed people for money I paid insurance. And I had already used the fireworks blowing up last time we got raided. While my body started to ache from overusing my magic abilities, I piled up the bodies and pulverized them using a chemical Tsunade had developed. It had no scent, no taste and no color - but one drop was enough to reduce an entire human body to dust in a matter of seconds. Very useful in capsules too, to avoid torture during interrogation. _

_My tired body dropped itself on the couch with barely enough strength to reach for my cigarettes. I lit one and savored the feeling of the tobacco smoke caressing the insides of my lungs. I wasn't supposed to smoke, but in my humble opinion, one could only properly reflect upon a massacre with the soothing smoke of tobacco and a few shots of the best triple-distilled vodka. _

_I caught myself dozing off, my body and mind both yearning for the rest they deserved. I tried to lift the artificial shadow, but found myself unable to. Instantly, I shifted into full alert mode with a throwing knife drawn and my wrist-blade deployed. The silence was only broken by a friendly chuckle that I knew all too well. Every time I heard it, my heart lit up. _

_That was the effect Jiraiya had on everyone in his vicinity, after all - or at least everyone in his vicinity who was on the right side of his gun. If you weren't, his mere presence was enough to make the weak-willed collapse from intimidation. Even enemies talked about the white-haired master of the Rose with the utmost respect, and only the most formidable of foes dared to view themselves as equal. The only person to openly condescend Jiraiya was his former friend and partner-in-crime, Orochimaru, who had long since turned to twisted science experiments over honor and respect. He called Jiraiya an outdated fossil who believed in a dead code, though under his leadership the Black Rose had flourished since day one._

_"Good job on those, kid," Jiraiya said, nodding to the pile of dust. "Clean and mostly silent, like I taught you."_

_"Thanks, Master," I replied with a content smile. "I'm skipping the 'I learned from the best' shit - you've got enough feathers up your ass as it is," I joked. "Any more and you'll look like a fucking peacock." Impressive as his record was, Jiraiya was a friend first and foremost._

_Suddenly, the mood turned gloomy. "Son, you really oughta start thinking about escaping this life," he said solemnly. He looked me deep in my eyes and I knew he wasn't worried about losing his best field operative. He was worried about losing his best friend. And he knew I knew that. He lit his trademark cigar with the tip of his finger and took a few long draws. "I lost my best friend to the darkness once, and I'm sure as hell not going to let that happen again."_

_"What about the Rose?" I countered. "All modesty aside, I helped you build that damn creed from scratch, stuck my neck out more often than I liked. I can't just quit like that. I just can't."_

_"Minato," Jiraiya said while putting a hand on my shoulder like a father giving his young adult son some valuable life advice. "A new generation is coming. Look at Kakashi, look at Itachi. Another year and they will handle your work like nothing ever happened." _

_I looked to the hole in the ceiling of my living room and thought about what life would've be like if I hadn't been an assassin. I wouldn't have to sleep with a gun under my pillow. Kushina wouldn't have been forced to stay at Hiruzen's place with Naruto - _

_Naruto. _

_"...I think you're right. But promise me one thing."_

_"Anything," the white-haired master assassin said without batting an eye._

_I started pacing around the room in an attempt to sort out the tidal wave of thoughts that engulfed me. Naruto. Naruto and the demon inhabiting the depths of his soul. The demon that I learned was a fragment of the soul that once inhabited pure evil's given form: Madara Uchiha. It was unclear how or why my son was chosen to host the evil that roamed the lands, but it gave him extraordinary powers even as a toddler. Now, at nine years of age, Naruto was an extremely happy kid, since Kushina and I didn't have the heart to tell him where his 'super speed' and ability to heal extremely fast came from. I bit my lip, having made up my mind. "Naruto needs to learn how to control his demon. He needs to learn the truth one day. When he is old enough."_

_Knowing exactly where I wanted to go, Jiraiya nodded. An exchange between friends only needed a minimal amount of words. I was relieved to know that he would have a safe haven to return to, and a mentor to look out for him when I... _

_When I would be dead._

_"What are you planning, Minato?"_

_"Nothing."_

_"Kid, I know that look. It usually means you're intending to do something very stupid and very unnecessary." _

_I sighed. The man really did know everything. "Fine. I'm thinking of raiding Lunar Eclipse." I paused to take a deep breath. "Alone."_

_"Never," Jiraiya said before I even finished my sentence. "Minato, it's a suicide mission, and you wouldn't be able to take out enough of their forces to permanently put them out of business." _

_I simply glared at him. "I cannot risk suddenly disappearing with Kushina and Naruto. Lunar Eclipse would hunt me down, even if we staged an accident," I stated hastily, sensing what the man I admired so much was about to say. He shut his mouth and rubbed his forehead._

_"What about Naruto?"_

_"Naruto?" I asked. _

_"You know, use the demon inside to our advantage. Spread a few rumors about a demon child, use a little memory modification. Then, on the tenth of the tenth of 2010, the child goes rampage, killing his parents. The kid and his best friend run away, and the brother of said best friend points them in the direction of the Black Rose - right into my arms. You get out of the country with Kushina the first chance you get."_

_"Where to?"_

_"I have a safe-house in Amsterdam. You can bunk out there." Jiraiya looked me in the eye again, with that trademark piercing gaze of his. "I will keep you updated on Naruto's progress through secured channels. You'll know what to look for once my first message reaches you."_

_I smiled, though I didn't feel like smiling. I didn't move, but I felt like tearing all kinds of shit down. I wasn't behaving like I felt I should behave in the slightest. I was also kind of hungry, but at the same time I knew I wouldn't be able to digest any food at all. _

_Then Jiraiya did something he never did: he hugged me. Not just a polite social hug, but a hug only able to be shared between two men so strongly bonded by friendship. The maelstrom of thoughts and emotions and other signals exploded and I just collapsed, tears streaming down my face for the first time since my son was born. _

_The months that separated us from Naruto's birthday, or 'Operation Execution' as Jiraiya, Kushina and I had come to call it, were spent modifying the memories of everyone around us and everyone in the city into believing that the demon child was rumored to be born on October tenth. This day was from then on known as 'The Day of Reckoning', and a terrible fate would befall those who were in the child's vicinity on this day. _

_Two victims were randomly chosen to die in place of my wife and myself, being controlled by an ancient and forbidden reanimation ability that originated from African voodoo. The two victims were sufficiently mauled to make them impossible to identify, although it appeared to be us. I nearly puked when I saw my 'dead' wife - I knew she was alive and well and standing right next to me at that very moment, but the likeness was so huge that it made me physically uncomfortable. _

_On the night before Operation Execution, Jiraiya summoned us and gave us two boat tickets, a legal permit to own and carry weapons at all times and passports with fake names. We each received a memento of our lives as assassins in the Order of the Black Rose as well: a specially crafted, traditional Japanese ninja kunai with 'Order of the Black Rose' in kanji inscribed on the blade. We also signed an enchanted blood contract that we would never say or do anything that could compromise the Order, and should we fail to do so, the kunai we were gifted with would take our lives. I smiled uncontrollably. Should have figured the old man had a trick like this up his sleeve. Kushina and I handed our physical collection of Intel over to the master, before finally getting up to part ways forever._

_Jiraiya hugged both of us closely and kissed Kushina on the cheek. "Look after yourselves, kids."_

_"Take good care of our boy, Jiraiya, I beg of you," Kushina said, tears flowing freely. I had a hard time keeping my own back, but from Jiraiya's reassuring smile I knew that Naruto was in the best hands possible._

_Then something extraordinary happened. I seemed to be able to hear what Jiraiya was thinking. _"Hope to see you again one day, kiddos, in this life or another."

_I smiled and nodded. _"Promise." 

* * *

><p>The man who claimed to be Minato Namikaze, father of Naruto Uzumaki, sat in a chair in front of Kakashi's desk, blindfolded and with his hands and legs bound. His weapons, a custom-built Walther P99 that fired revolver ammo, a set of throwing knives and a weird-looking Japanese kunai, lay scattered across the desk of the guild master. Everything seemed to check out with what he had told in the past hour, right down to his extremely detailed description of Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shikaku, Kakashi and Itachi in their younger days.<p>

All this time, Naruto had not moved a muscle and we had to check if he was actually breathing. 'Living a lie' didn't even begin to cut it for him. The whole myth around his very existence was nothing more than a devious lie made up by his father and his mentor to cover the formers tracks, even though the demon that housed in the slums of his soul was still very real.

My eyes widened and I jerked around to face the man I had presumed dead for over a decade. The demon. Jiraiya and this guy figured out that the evil presence from within was a fragment of Madara Uchiha's soul - but that didn't make any sense. Madara was alive and leading Moon's Eye. Besides, the evil inside my best friend was not familiar at all, even though Uchiha have an exceptionally strong connection to their kin. If the demon really was a piece of Madara Uchiha's twisted soul, I would have recognized it if Itachi hadn't already.

"Minato," Itachi said, remembering what the man had said right at the same time as I did. "Our master and you... You figured something out about the evil presence inside one of our members. That the 'demon' was a fragment of Madara Uchiha's soul."

The man that called himself Minato nodded. "Yes, indeed. I've personally supervised many experiments on Naruto, and conducted quite a lot of them myself. The results were... unpleasant, to say the least. I don't know if you've fathered any children since the last time we saw each other, but any parent will tell you that when anything bad is happening to your child, it feels like hell.

"Well aren't we used to that," Kakashi deadpanned. I smirked for a brief moment before partaking in the conversation.

"Madara is alive. We have inside sources that confirm his identity as the leader of the Disciples of the Moon's Eye."

"Changed the name, did he? 'Disciples of the Moon's Eye'. Catchy."

Kakashi grabbed Minato by his collar. "Don't get coy, jackass. We're not kidding around here. The discovery of Madara's identity as Moon's Eye's leader kind of puts your theory on loose foundations, doesn't it? So get talking. What more do you know?"

"Arrogant as ever, Kakashi. Jeez." Minato sighed and took a deep breath. I didn't listen to the entire story of how he found out what he knew, but the gist of it was that Madara used a black magic ritual that split his soul into several parts. Something he learned from an underground cult. It required the summoning of Death - not simply killing a person, but summoning the ethereal representation of Death. In reward of the summoner's foolish courage, Death would split the soul of the summoner instead of claiming it, allowing the summoner to live on even when the body or mind failed them. It was truly a formidable form of dark magic, and I was almost curious as to what Death looked like, even though I had seen and even dealt it countless times in my still fairly young life.

"...Dad?"

Everyone turned around to look at Naruto. The blond blinked a couple of times and stammered something unintelligible. Itachi looked at him with a confused look, to which Naruto scratched his throat again. "Take the blindfold off. Undo his shackles."

"Naruto, we don't kn-"

"Trust me."

"..."

Kakashi, standing closest to Minato, heeded Naruto's questionable request, but it looked like the blond sensed something about the man that we didn't, even with heightened senses in Itachi's and my case.

Minato stood up and rubbed his sore wrists, stretching a few times before sitting down again in a little more comfortable position. Naruto walked up to him, his face void of any emotion. Minato smiled weakly, happy to finally see his son again, but also feeling crushed under the excruciating weight of guilt. "Thanks, son."

Then Naruto hooked him straight in the eye.

Minato lost his balance and dropped to the floor, so shocked and caught off guard that he didn't think to break his fall in any way. With a dull thud, the man hit the cold stone, with a heavily breathing Naruto standing over him. Despite the extreme tension in the air, I guffawed; Naruto's habit of punching people close to him had returned, which was a good sign. When Minato tried to get back up and rested his weight on his hands, Naruto kicked him in the chest. He flopped over and desperately gasped for air for a good half minute before the young Uzumaki finally helped him back into his chair.

Oddly enough, he was smirking. Before we knew it, he was hugging him.

"Welcome back, old man. I missed you."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note] <p>

Thank You u/3426310/Ashura_B for drawing art for this story and Thank You u/2994238/SapphireRivulet for beta-ing :) You are awesome.

Next chapter, we will dive a little further into Suigetsu's history, and Sasuke will reminisce on his past for a bit as well. It's fun to write them together. Like, really fun.

I'm also working on a new story (*gasp!*) featuring GaaHina (DOUBLE *GASP!*). First time writing those two together, and I would like you all to tell me how I pulled it off once it's up.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

_"A fool is he who cannot foresee that hell is this land's only future."_

* * *

><p>"Can you believe it?" Kiba said to no one in particular while chugging down three big gulps of quality vodka, straight from the bottle. "Minato <em>goddamn <em>Namikazi."

"Namikaze," I corrected him, also clutching a bottle of vodka.

"That's what I said."

"You said Namikaz-_ee._ It's pronounced Namikaz-_ay_."

"Psh. Whatever. Ashiatu." I was wise enough to ignore his lupiini insult as he took another swig of booze. "The point is, next thing I know my mother is actually my father and Suigetsu turns out to be straight after all."

The water Elemental glared daggers at the werewolf, who in turn donned a victorious smirk, with me just snickering in between them. We were at the Rosebud, a bar that used to be run by Jiraiya as a cover-up for the meeting point of his assassins before moving to the current HQ. It was in a state of decay, having been abandoned over a decade ago, but for some reason the alcohol was still fresh and perfectly good to drink. As if someone (I had a feeling that it was Kakashi) still stocked it even though no one ever dared to enter. Hell, the place didn't even have a bartender. I was actually surprised that no one had raided the place yet in search of alcohol or other loot.

Then again, rumor had it that anyone entering this place would never be seen again. Many people had walked through the doors, yet when the old white-haired bartender closed the doors at four AM, the patrons had yet to emerge. The Rosebud was a death sentence.

Of course, the _real_reason no one ever came out was because the assassins used the secret hatch to escape through the sewers in case someone was following them. The place was no more haunted than my bathroom, which was of course clean as a whistle.

We spent some more time at the bar drinking vodka and rum, talking about our childhoods and what our parents were like. It was actually the first time I had heard about Suigetsu's parents, besides having known the dude for quite some time now. Apparently his father was some high-level district attorney or other legal officer that had cheated on his wife with a desperate prostitute who offered her services for disgracefully little payment. She ended up his sex slave; living in the basement of the married couple for three years without the wife's knowledge.

Somewhere along those three years, the woman developed Stockholm Syndrome and fell in love with her master. In an ultimate attempt to win her master over, she stopped taking birth control and Suigetsu was conceived. The man found out and tried to beat the fetus to death through repeatedly kicking the woman in the stomach. It was the woman's love for the man and the child that kept him alive, even with the numerous beatings.

He considered killing her, but as soon as a body would be found pregnant, the authorities would be able to trace it back to him. At six months, the man grew desperate because the baby was still very much alive and he tried to coax the woman into getting it removed. She refused, and ultimately the man decided that he would do it himself then.

To be certain that the baby would die, he prepared a bath of chemicals to drown the baby in once it was removed from the mother's womb. His plan was solid, but his technique was quite sloppy. The woman died from blood loss two minutes after he had made the first cut; he'd managed to hit a vital artery and severed it. He removed the fetus from the womb and dropped it into the bath of chemicals, but the fetus instead soaked up the chemicals and imprinted the properties of the chemical into its DNA. With such a source for growth, the fetus grew into a baby overnight. The wife found it in the bath of chemicals the next morning, crying, and when she tried to pick it up her hands ran right through it as if it were made from water. She discovered the dead woman in the basement, confronted her husband and was promptly killed on the spot by him.

The man dumped the bath with the liquid baby somewhere on the corner of the street the next night, where it was picked up by a washed-up, twisted scientist madman named Orochimaru. Orochimaru figured out how the baby's DNA worked and named it Suigetsu, meaning 'water moon'. About twelve years later, Suigetsu tracked down his father and got the whole story from him while keeping him at gunpoint. As a matter of coincidence, Jiraiya had accepted a contract to murder the man that same day, and he was just in time to hear him beg for his life before a white-haired boy no older than twelve capped a bullet in his head. After freeing four maimed women from the basement, Jiraiya introduced Suigetsu to the world of assassination, and Suigetsu happily abandoned Orochimaru.

That was the day I was introduced to Suigetsu, who would be joining me in assassin training.

"So yeah," Suigetsu said emptying the contents of the rum bottle at an alarming rate. "Imagine twelve years of lying on a table stark naked while a grown man hovers over you trying to grope your kiddie dick. I've already called dibs on that guy's head. I want to carefully rip every piece of skin from that disgusting head and make his bloody skull into an ashtray."

"You don't even smoke," I deadpanned, my brain numbed by the vodka as well. Though unintentional, it did lift the Elemental's mood.

Kiba sighed. "Glad my dad was just torn to pieces the size of chicken nuggets before my five-year-old eyes," he droned. "_'That's what you get for selling secrets to the enemy,'_mom said. Never really got to know the guy, but from what I heard from Hana, he was quite an ass." I snorted. Werewolves. Gotta love 'em.

Deep down, I was glad that I didn't have to tell them what happened to my parents. They already knew Itachi assassinated our father in cold blood, as his life mainly revolved around corruption, large-scale fraud and blackmail to get to his position as the Chief of Police. Prior to his death, he even filed several assassination contracts to the Black Rose not knowing that his own sons were the ones carrying out those contracts. Once Itachi showed up at his doorstep, he felt there was something wrong. In a desperate attempt to save his own life, he pulled our mother in front of the shot and made his escape. But Itachi's superior speed caught up with him and sliced his neck without a trace of remorse. Our mother survived, but knowing her husband's true nature and having witnessed her son murder him had her resort to suicide.

Not that I mourned the death of my father. For as long as I could remember, Itachi has been more of a father figure than my actual father, and I was okay with that. Itachi was badass but compassionate, a strict teacher but a lenient boss, and most of all my oldest friend. No, I had these episodes of minor depression out of remorse for my mother. I knew from experience what it felt like to have your whole world be annihilated before your eyes while you just stand by and watch, but for her it must have been infinitely worse.

Around three in the morning, the three of us dragged our light-headed selves back to HQ and off to our respective rooms. I didn't actually go to my room; instead, I snuck around a few corners and used the key she had given me to enter Sakura's room. She was already fast asleep, which kind of disappointed me in a sense, but then again I wasn't really just looking to get laid tonight. No, after everything that happened what I really needed was... comfort? I cringed at that word popping up. I was happy for Naruto that his father was back in his life, but I could only imagine how betrayed he felt. Even though he would say his life changed for the better in the long run, he did have to live through six years of severe psychological trauma that two maimed bodies have on a ten-year-old.

I smiled, undressed and dropped my practically naked body in bed next to Sakura's. She shifted to face me and yawned. I had to suppress another smile. Her out-of-bed look was so incredibly sexy.

"Where have you been?" she croaked sleepily. I just shrugged and carefully wrapped an arm around her. She nuzzled up to me, thankfully ignoring the polluting smell of strong liquor and tobacco, and rested her head on my arm. "I missed you."

I raised one eyebrow, knowing for a fact that she thought that was almost as sexy as I thought the hot mess she was in the morning. "Sakura, I was gone for a few hours, tops."

"I still missed you, deal with it," she said playfully and stuck her tongue out afterwards. I sighed, amused, and rubbed my temples.

She stole a kiss, to which I hugged her closer, the sudden need to protect her from some imaginary threat washing over me. Of course, as I had said many times before, we were assassins, which basically meant we could be killed at any second for the rest of our lives. But the looming threat of my grandfather's evil schemes and the ongoing suffering that stained the land made me want to pull a Minato. Although I doubted I could feign my own death without killing myself with regret. Hell, I know Itachi would. Yes, he murdered our father in cold blood, and didn't move a muscle when he heard of Mother's suicide. But somewhere deep down in that battle-hardened heart of his, he was still a human being. And humans have this nasty trait called emotions.

Maybe the dude just needed a woman. Someone like Kiba's sister, Hana. From what I knew of her, she was a pleasant mix somewhere between Kiba and him.

"Love you..." Sakura husked, snapping me out of my musings. I kissed her on the cheek and replied accordingly. She sat up and looked me in the eye with that piercing emerald gaze of hers. "What's up?"

Everything was up. I was worried, angry, insecure, and a myriad of other moods while I should just be happy for Naruto. "Nothing."

_Sasuke Uchiha, you are a dumb fuck._

I ignored her annoyed look and rolled over to my side, facing away from her. This was probably not the best course of action, as she dropped her full weight (which was practically nothing, but still) on my side and kept pestering me until I finally gave in.

Also, why the hell was I smiling all the time? Sakura was acting immature and annoying, but I still endured it and even found it hilarious. _"You're growing weak,"_Itachi would have said, but I begged to differ - I had learned to love.

"Sasuke, I'm your girlfriend. You're not supposed to hide things from me."

Sighing out of amusement, I shook my head and started to chuckle. "Fine." I sighed again, this time a genuine sigh of exhaustion, and pulled her closer to me. "Frankly, my dear, I'm a tad worried." She giggled at the very exaggerated British accent I imitated (...what the hell was _wrong_ with me?), but her expression turned serious the moment after that.

"You mean Naruto?"

"Yes. How has he handled the talk with his dad? You were there."

Sakura gulped. "Well. Minato - is that his name? - Minato is still bruised from all the punches Naruto threw at him. Nothing major, just one internal bleeding. He should be out of bed in three days." A weak smile graced my lips, but the pink-haired girl didn't catch it. "They've just talked for hours on end, eventually having a few beers together. It was rough, but they're all good now - at least that's what they both say. You might want to check on Naruto once he's awake."

"Done." At least I had something to do on my day off, aside from the obligatory five hours of training. Maybe invite the blond to a few runs through The Pit, for old times sake. I had noticed that his accuracy on fast-moving targets was slipping recently, and we - as in the Black Rose - needed him at the top of his game.

The next day, Sakura and I woke up to find ourselves naked and entangled into each other (I was certain that it had _nothing_ to do with the hot steamy... _intercourse_ we had the night before) and smiled. I always felt more invigorated after a night I shared with the beautiful pink-haired girl, which Itachi would probably explain as a side effect of the hormones that had a field day during sex.

But screw Itachi and his dull scientific explanations. I wanted to _believe._Believe in love, believe in destiny. Just because it was so damn satisfying to realize that not everything was in my own hands. That I had someone to blame if I fucked anything up, someone to thank when I survived another close encounter with Death.

Sakura and I cuddled for a bit before getting dressed and making it to the dining hall for breakfast. I had no idea what time it was and I didn't really care, but the over-sized clock above the kitchen read 9:57 AM. The entire guild was here, an event that rarely ever happened; the last time we were all assembled was for Jiraiya's funeral. Perceptive as she was, Sakura too noticed that something big was about to happen, and it wasn't exactly a shot in the dark what that was.

"I guess Kakashi is going to be announcing the new master today."

I simply nodded. Though I had yet to experience the actual ceremony, I read a lot about the procedure of appointing a new guild master in my studies. The entire guild would assemble, chant the Assassin's Creed and then the old master would step forward to pass on his title to the new master. In case of a new master being appointed as a result of the previous one being killed, the Mentor of the guild would perform this task. The Mentor of the Black Rose was Tsunade, having the most experience and the longest history with Jiraiya and being his most trusted advisor. The Mentor was unable to take up the title of Guild Master, unless appointing a new mentor at least one year before the current Mentor's inauguration as master.

Knowing this, I was surprised to see not Tsunade but Kakashi stepping forward at exactly 10:15.

"Brothers and Sisters of the Black Rose, I welcome you on this day to make an announcement," the masked man stated in an official tone. "Though it has been some time, the passing of our beloved Master, Jiraiya, is still vivid in our memories. The aching in our hearts is still fresh." He paused for a second, in search of words. "But we must push on, if not for ourselves, then because Jiraiya would have wanted it. Jiraiya had a dream: to see the Black Rose flourish, free of any competition, for no man would ever be so stupid to challenge the likes of our Order. Unmatched in efficiency, grace, skill and competence, The Order of the Black Rose has the potential to be the best - simply because there would be no other."

Kakashi started pacing up and down, using the silence to put extra strength into his words. "Although he will not be here with us to witness his dream come true, I am sworn to his memory that I will make that dream a reality. That is why," he paused again, appearing to be struggling with the way the next sentence should be formulated. A rare occurrence for a natural speaker such as Kakashi, I thought. The silver-haired top assassin continued just as I finished that thought. "That is why, instead of taking up the honorary title of Master, I will take up Tsunade's title of Mentor of the Assassin's Order of the Black Rose."

"What the fuck!?" Naruto roared with demonic power. "Are you fucking kidding me!"

"Silence, Naruto," Tsunade said calmly. Naruto complied reluctantly, crossing his arms and glaring daggers at his superiors. Tsunade looked at Kakashi. "I believe an explanation is in order. Kurenai, the documents."

Kurenai stepped forward carrying what looked like an old notebook, a diary even. It's cover was clad in a charred black snake-skin leather, as if the owner had tried to scorch it off without damaging the book but quit as soon as the first attempt proved fruitless. I recognized the leather even from afar; it looked like the same leather Kabuto always used to wear. Then, in a sudden spark of clarity, I realized that this book was a present from Orochimaru back when his bond with our deceased master was still one of friendship. Kabuto's leather jackets and coats were made of the same leather Orochimaru always used because the filthy traitor was on his side all along.

"This book," Kakashi continued, snapping me from my renewed hate for the abomination we knew he was, "was locked away in an enchanted safe with only one person alive capable to open it. Both the safe and the book belonged to Jiraiya. They served as a safeguard to the truth about the presumed-dead Minato Namikaze from the world of animosity."

Like I said, the dude had a way with words.

"A lot of the contents of this document are very personal in nature. However, the opening entry of Jiraiya's life story speaks of the truth about Minato and his son, Naruto." I could just feel everyone turning from the former to the latter and back to the former. Kakashi announced that he would like to quote the most important lines, in honor of our fallen master's memory. In his trademark strong, captivating voice, the man started reading:

_'To anyone who is reading these petty drabbles of mine, you already know that the man standing in your__vicinity proclaims to be Minato Namikaze. He is the only one besides yours truly that can dispel the seal on the safe. Hell, he_invented _that seal. I can safely assure you, this man is genuinely Minato Namikaze.'_The entry then recalled the entire story of Minato's disappearance and the extremely intricate world of lies the two masterminds managed to shape. Kakashi never missed a word or took a break, reciting the immortalized memoires of a man too great for this world alone, yet appreciated every day as a gift. As the entry of Minato's story came close to its end, arguably the most important line came up: _'I should not even be considering this, but it's a shame that such a great potential has been lost to the world at large for the Devil knows how long. To be honest, the man would have made a great successor.'_

Though all hardened assassins, some people were close to tears. Kakashi allowed another brief moment of silence to let the words of our Master echo throughout the room, before picking up where he left off. "Jiraiya was a great man. Second to none whether it was in the field of power, speed, wits or humanity. Even having foreseen his untimely death, he already made the necessary arrangements."

"Therefore, in agreement with our current Mentor," Itachi stated, speaking up for the first time, "we have decided to honor the dying wish of someone who was, frankly, one of a very small batch of truly admirable people in this world."

"Meaning..." I muttered.

"Meaning that we assembled you all to welcome our new Master: Minato Namikaze."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Really, what else can you do with the most badass character ever except making him head honcho of the entire place? I am truly sorry I have been AWOL for so long. Had a lot of shit to work through. I'm also on amphetamine meds that kind of bar my access to the bursts of creativity I used to experience. But don't worry. I'm not going to die.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


	30. Chapter Thirty

**Chapter Thirty**

_"The closer you get to the meaning, the sooner you'll know that you're dreaming..."_

* * *

><p>"Meaning that we assembled you all to welcome our new Master: Minato Namikaze."<p>

It was as if the entire room became one person with one pair of eyes, instantly turning to the blond sitting beside me. The looks he was receiving either read pure shock or accusation; as if he had known about the decision to elect his father Master. Naruto, however, was just as much at a loss of words as the rest of the guild (save for Kakashi, Tsunade, Kurenai, Itachi and Minato himself).

Only one thing was crystal clear from this point onward: however powerful we considered the presumed-dead Minato, he was still a few leagues above that.

There was simply no other way how else he would have convinced the entirety of the Order's top dogs to make him their direct superior less than a day after they discovered he was in fact very much alive. Besides, even Jiraiya said it in his manuscript. The man had a great potential, and the only other person he ever truly respected for his abilities was the one that had stabbed him in the back so deep that even death probably wasn't enough for his soul to fully recover from that.

In short, I was glad that this time the praised guy was on our side. Because I had a feeling that Minato was the key to overcoming the limitless capabilities of Orochimaru.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Minato took the spotlight and silenced everyone with a simple motion of his hand. Whether people stopped muttering out of admiration, respect or fear was not evident, but something about him made my gut say that he was the right guy for the job. His presence imposed respect, and few men would dare defy him.

"First off, let me start by saying that I am very sorry that Kakashi had to break all his promises to everyone of you because of me. Trust is a scarce blessing in the world of this age, and those that do not obey its laws face very severe consequences. What I ask of you is even harder. Most of you don't know me, or at best heard of me through Jiraiya or Tsunade. Yet here I am, not as some kind of war hero that I have been made out to be, but as a newcomer, a stranger. And the people you have learned to trust over the years are suddenly demanding you to listen to my commands. I will not ask you to trust me, and I do not expect that you do straight off the bat. All I ask you is to give me a chance to prove myself as the Master worthy of commanding the best fucking group of assassins I have ever witnessed together."

Though he would deny it to his dying day, Naruto was in tears as he started applauding. The others, too mesmerized by the words the newcomer had spoken, seemed to snap out of their trance and follow the lead of the blond. The other blond, standing before the group right now, remained solemn under the gesture of appreciation, bowing his head and taking a few deep breaths. When he looked back up to face the group, he seemed to be cleansed of the tension that had been eligible on his face.

"Now then. From the information I have gathered, there is little to nothing that needs immediate improvement. I'm sure it's been said a thousand times before, but Jiraiya knew what he was doing when he trained all of you." He continued to praise how everyone appeared to know exactly what their job was in the miniature society of our Order, how our equipment was state of the art and how all of us were in perfect physical and mental condition. The only adjustment he made security-wise was an improvement of all the magical barriers protecting HQ from civilians and such wandering into it. "But above all, it warms my heart to see how so many young people have such a great passion for killing other people," he finished on a very sarcastic tone, putting a smile on everyone's faces.

Kakashi and Itachi finished the rest of the formalities before sending us all off to the Master's quarters where the signing of the contract would take place. The signing procedure was very simple; each assassin skimmed through the contract, recited the vow to heed the Code at all times and drew a little blood with a ceremonial knife. The blood served as a symbolic sacrifice to the authority of the Master and was used to sign the name of the assassin as a sign of loyalty to the Code and the Master. Some Masters went as far as to enchanting the knife and the contract with an ancient spell that stopped the heart of those that ever broke the vow. Minato, like his predecessor, didn't; the symbolic offer of blood was enough for him to expect loyalty and unity.

The signing of the contract was a long process, but like any other guild with at least a little dignity, we respected the traditions. Blood was valuable, the source of life, and carrying oxygen to all the vital organs. Sign a contract with it and you are bound to it until either the writer passes on or you do.

The blood we had to use was drawn from a very specific vein in the lower arm. Besides simply out of tradition, this was of importance because it was a test of one's skill as an assassin. When cut in the right manner and place, a wound like this was harmless. When cut in any other way, it would result in bleeding to death. As even the lowest of ranks were trained in basic anatomy of the human body and medical surgery, any impostor would quickly expose themselves by either not daring to make the cut or committing suicide.

Either way, they would eventually end up dead.

Barely registering it, I turned to look at Naruto walking past me to sign his name with his blood. Then I blinked and looked again at his hands, shaking from tension. I imagined it was from the streak of shocks he experienced, with his guardian dying, his father turning out to be alive and now being appointed master. His fingers trembled uncontrollably when he picked up the razor-sharp blade and slowly moved it towards his bare arm.

Suddenly, I panicked, terrified that my best friend's nervosity would become his demise. I was well on my way to jump in and stop him from cutting his arm and killing himself, but in the last split of a second the blond took hold of himself and applied a perfect wound to himself before I could move. A small streak of blood ran from it, though more than enough to sign his name on the parchment.

No one but Sakura noticed my muscles stirring. She looked up at me, stating a non-verbal question what was wrong. I simply shook my head in response. No one needed to know that I nearly lost faith in my best friend's resolve so easily.

Both Sakura and I followed, cutting through flesh and skin with surgical precision without so much as even a tiny wince. Through years of training, we dramatically increased our bodies' resistance to physical pain. I hardly even felt the sting of the cut, having experienced much worse in my early days. With a faint smile, I recalled an incident in which I ended up facing twelve traditional Samurai warriors after a failed attempt to assassinate their sensei. As it turned out, trying to infiltrate their secret dojo as one of them was not such a good idea in practice as it was in theory. I returned with a huge cut wound in my arm, one Tsunade later described as 'amputation-worthy'. The broad scar on my arm was a testament to both Tsunade's medical prowess and my inexperience at the time. Now I consider it a reminder of my will to survive at all costs.

My feet had carried me to Naruto's room, where I had been standing in front of the door for a good minute before I realized where I was in the first place. I felt the demonic energy radiating through the door, which was my fool-proof system to know whether or not Naruto was in his room. I knocked on the door before going in without waiting for an invitation from the resident. Naruto had made himself comfortable on his bed, half-heartedly playing a video game that had survived the fallout in some mysterious way. I sat down in the chair I always occupied when I was in his room, and reached to the demon host's personal collection of strong liquor without paying attention. I put the bottle to my mouth and tasted a sweet, thick rum with hints of vanilla and orange peel. Knowing this was one of Naruto's favorites, I put the bottle I identified as Captain Morgan's Personal back where it was and grabbed another bottle, this time carefully choosing one of the plentiful vodkas.

Only I was really allowed to touch Naruto's collection, just like he was the only one that could steal from me without consequences. That was an agreement made the day we came of age, although we had been scavenging for booze since the age of thirteen. Alcohol in general was not hard to come by, especially after the fallout. Itachi, in an endeavor to obey his moral duty to our parents, had confiscated my stash a thousand times, but with my assassin skills skyrocketing, I managed to steal everything back a thousand and one times.

I looked at the young man who sustained enough emotional trauma for two generations, knowing that he knew I was there but he didn't feel obliged to small talk. I simply knew these things. Friendship bond and all. I watched Naruto's character slaughtering a hundred demons in one minute on-screen, and decided that this was the perfect moment. As the words 'Brutal Victory!' appeared, I said "congratulations."

Naruto turned to me for a second and shrugged. "Eh, done this challenge a thousand times."

"I mean with your father becoming master."

"...Oh." He sighed. "That."

I watched in silence how Naruto turned off the video game console and carelessly tossed the controller aside before facing me again. It was evident that he was anything but happy about it, but I couldn't quite figure out why. And not knowing what was going on was lethal in my field of work. Naruto beckoned me to hand him the bottle in my hands, of which he chugged down more than half of its contents in a matter of seconds. He didn't wince from the sharp taste of ethanol burning in his throat or when he dripped some on the tiny cut in his arm. Which, come to think of it, was well on its way of healing completely already, thanks to the blonde's demonic powers. He repeated his sigh.

"How did it happen?" he asked, genuinely surprising me for a second before I could restore my stoic composure. I looked at him confused, to tell him to go on. Naruto took another shot of vodka, letting the liquid roam his mouth before swallowing. "You and Sakura."

I did not like the direction this conversation took. Naruto's father, whom he believed to be guilty of murdering in a rage of demonic fury for over a decade, was not only alive but also promoted to his direct superior, and he wanted to know how I hooked up with a girl we haven't known for more than half a year? I ran a hand through my hair and didn't think enough before saying "I punched her in the gut, nearly choked her twice and then ignored her completely. Chicks dig that."

"Very funny, asshole."

"What's it to you anyway?" I snapped. "I was a dick, we made up, and eventually we just came to be. Hell, I don't know."

"You see," Naruto interrupted himself with another swig of vodka, "I've been thinking."

"Well that's a first."

"Shut up." I still smirked when I saw Naruto's crimson eyes briefly twinkle with amusement. "Really, I've been thinking and I've come to the conclusion that no matter what, no matter what hellish powers I acquire, I'm still always looking at your back. I just cannot seem to excel in anything, no matter how hard I try." He swallowed something that hinted sadness in his voice. "You were the first to save my life when we were kids. You were the first to give us a purpose. You were the first to get your gun, the first to get your first kill, the first to get your first payment. Even now, the entire reason I am who I am is because of you, and I am _fucking SICK of it!_"

He threw the vodka bottle at the wall with demonic force, causing it to explode with a sharp pang and leaving a dent in the wall where it connected. Pieces of glass scattered everywhere, pierced skin, fabric and wood, and the remaining alcohol in the bottle immediately made the tiny wounds sting like a gunshot. Meanwhile, Naruto towered over me, heaving with rage and something I could not place. He seemed even more enraged that I remained unfazed throughout it all. Before I knew it, his fist connected with my jaw and brought me out of balance.

Now he had crossed a line.

In one fluent move, I got up and swept his weight off his feet. Before he could get up, I wrestled him to the floor, using an assassin's technique to contain him that even he couldn't break with his demonic power. All the while shouting what the fuck his deal was.

After what seemed like an eternity of struggling to break free, the demon host calmed down and promised me that he had himself under control again. I released him, ready to work him back to the glass- and vodka-covered floor if needed, but he stumbled to his bed and sat down on it while rubbing his dislocated shoulder.

"Sorry," I mumbled, acknowledging that I may have been a little too rough. I helped him snap the joint back in place, which was a trivial injury to a guy like him. Only a small hiss gave away that he did feel pain like any normal human being. A minute passed in silence, with Naruto looking at the floor and me observing him looking at the floor. "So," I finally started. "What the fuck is your problem?"

"You are my fucking problem. More than you fucking realize," Naruto replied. He repeated the rant about how he always felt like the fifth wheel on my tour bus. "I cannot remember a single point in my life where I've ever felt I've truly beaten you, where I've felt that I was more than just the stage hand on the Sasuke show. And then Sakura happened."

"Explain yourself." I tried my hardest to fight the feeling of envy that I felt surfacing inside me. Sakura was mine, and I didn't like the idea of anyone else liking her more than just as a friend or, in Kiba's and Suigetsu's case, a fuckbuddy and friend.

"Are you really that blind, Sasuke? I thought we were friends." The look in Naruto's eyes did not reveal any indication of sarcasm, making the comment sting unusually hard because of his trivial way of putting it. But for the life of me, I couldn't think of anything Sakura could have said or done to drastically chance the life of the blond before me. Unless he was in love with her or something.

_Fuck._

Now that the thought had passed my mind, everything made sense. The reason he was so depressed after what happened with Gaara and his siblings, the reason he took Jiraiya's death so badly, the reason he had looked at Hinata like he had. It wasn't love. It wasn't grief, anger, solitude or anything even remotely similar.

It was yearning.

Naruto, for all these months, had craved for the comfort, the support, the love. He craved that person that went the extra step to fall with him into the deepest rifts of his soul, that person who would pull him out when he would start losing the struggle for his own sanity.

"Why Sakura?"

Naruto let out a dry laugh void of any humor. "Why Sakura? Have you _ever_ looked in a mirror the past ten fucking centuries? Sakura is special, Sasuke, you of all people should know that. Your heart was as dead as I thought my father to be for half of my fucking life. Then there comes the little fairy with the pink hair, who also happens to be capable of shooting a gun. Now look at you. You're all mushy-mushy-happy-faced-vanilla Sasuke." Before I had a chance to retort, Naruto already continued his barrage of confessions. "You don't realize because you're in love - but it's because of _her._ She has the ability to _make_ people capable of loving again."

"Seriously, what the fuck are you talking about?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you? Sakura is capable of making people experience love. In all honesty, I don't even know if she knows. But I know."

"How? And what exactly do you know about her, as in why is she capable of doing that kind of thing?"

Naruto sighed and started fidgeting with his gun. "Grab some popcorn, it's story time." I shifted in the chair I was sitting in, also instinctively inching my hand towards the gun in my holster. You know, occupational hazards whenever someone else than me pulls out what could be considered a firearm. "So anyway," he started, "when we first met Sakura, I could pick up some strange vibes from her. Something I haven't felt before in my life. Even now, I can instantly recall it - this sense of passion, of vitality, of _life_. It felt like I was injected with a small dose of happiness."

Trying my best to dig up the memories from a seemingly distant past, I remembered how both of us - Naruto and myself - had basically discarded all of our instructions, protocols and the like concerning safety and trust towards Sakura. As if something from the core of my being, or _her_ being, overruled rationality and convinced me that we could trust her. With a slow nod, I beckoned Naruto that I was following him. "Go on."

"Everything happened so fast after that. The whole thing with Gaara, the war at Point Blank, Jiraiya's death, Kisame, the Hyuuga bastards, my dad... Everything kind of converged into one huge clusterfuck of adrenaline and death. I never put much thought to it, but it suddenly occurred to me how smooth everything had been going since Angel Witch joined us. Why everybody, even those who spent years upon years basically pressing their back to yours, turned against you when you had your thing with Sakura. Why no one seemed to question the people from Angel Witch. I..." he sighed. "I spent a lot of time thinking and... talking."

"Talking to the beast?" I asked the question out of courtesy, because the answer wasn't in the least surprising.

"Yes." Naruto pressed his hands against his face and took a few heavy breaths. Something was definitely not right. "Sasuke, you have no idea how it feels when something, some - _presence_ - inside you takes pleasure in crushing any footholds you thought you had on the world as you know it by revealing certain information while keeping something else a secret. You lose your faith, your trust, your confidence, your pride, your heart. And when something comes around that throws you a lifeline, how ragged and flimsy it may seem, this being inside you tells you that you were destined to tear that line apart simply because you possess something that would forever conflict with what the lifeline may bring."

With my brain in full gear trying to quickly put all the pieces together as they were presented to me, I realize how blinded I was by this sudden happiness that washed over me with the arrival of Sakura in my life. Naruto was helpless, doomed to a fate that would kick off his descent into the deepest layers of the hell in his own mind. The slow degradation of his beliefs, his thoughts and memories. Slowly the demonic presence would dispose of everything that defined the human it inhabited, until Naruto would be nothing more than a shell, an instrument for the demon to wreak havoc with. Learning such things from a demon would shatter the confidence of even the most strong-willed.

But _why_?

"It doesn't make any sense," I whispered. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Oh for fuck's sake, Sasuke! This thing inside me is a fucking demon; you really think it would be stopped by a puny human who thinks he's a big shot because he knows what way to point a gun? If I really wanted to have what I have craved for for so long I would have disposed of you a long time ago, and even then I would have been able to coax Sakura into whatever I wanted from her. And trust me, I've stood over your bedside with a knife inches away from your throat on more than one occasion. What did you think I cut my finger for with that blade in Sakura's room? That was so I could get a sample of her poison. She would have thought that she somehow was responsible and the grief would have led her straight into my arms."

I stammered something unintelligible, paralyzed with shock and causing Naruto to continue.

"The reason I didn't is because it would basically open the flood gates for the fucking bastard in my head to take over. And killing Sakura would be his top priority once he's fully out. Are you finally getting where I'm going?"

Oh, was I.

Demons were real, as was proven by Naruto and Gaara. Sakura had the unexplainable capability of making people experience positive emotions, whether it was with or without her knowledge. Demons did the exact opposite of that.

"Welcome to the real world, Sasuke," Naruto said mockingly. "The real world in which your best friend is a demon host and your lover is an angel."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

Such a cheerful fellow Naruto is. I think it fits his whole existence a lot more than the inhuman amounts of shameless optimism he possesses normally. Anyway, I am late as hell, because the meds I'm taking definetely clog up the creative parts in me until it erupts. Which it did this week. Been up basically every hour of the week so far writing this.

A big thank you to everyone of you who stuck with me through it all. I really appreciate it.

Signed,  
><em>V<em>


	31. Chapter Thirty One

**Chapter Thirty-One**

_"Could you ever kill the pain in my heart, even though they say angels don't kill?"_

* * *

><p>Sakura is an angel. Naruto - no, the beast<em> inside<em> Naruto knew. I didn't. I had to find Sakura. I had to find Konan. I had to find Itachi, or Kakashi, or Jiraiya - no, Minato. Because Jiraiya is dead, you idiot. Fuck, why couldn't I get my thoughts straight? Why was this having such a huge influence on me? And what in the name of the everloving fuck was this feeling of impending danger for all my loved ones that had no direct casuse?

I was going in circles, I noticed when I saw the door to Naruto's rush by in the corner of my eye. _I was going in fucking circles._ In my own goddamn home!

Trying to focus, I practically skidded to a halt and took a few deep breaths to calm myself, as far as that was possible. I still had no idea where this pressuring feeling of lingering threat came from, but I couldn't not notice it. Worst of all, my gut was telling me that it all tied in with this new information about Sakura. As if everything - the Black Rose, Moon's Eye, Orochimaru, Angel Witch, Kabuto, Jiraiya, and even the apocalypse itself somehow orbited around her divine soul. I had of course tried to extract more from my friend, but he promptly passed out after another swig of booze. Therefore I found myself aimlessly rushing through the damp, chilly corridors, short-circuiting every piece of factual intelligence I could remember clearly.

Konan would be useless. Her angelic wings were part of her magic. No use there. One target down, three to go. Or four, if you count Itachi and Kakashi seperately.

Why was it so hard to decide?

_"Sasuke, shut the fuck up, I can hear you think from a mile away. I'm trying to sleep."_

Oh yeah, I could communicate with my brother through telepathy. I hastily told Itachi to get the fuck out of bed and grab Kakashi to meet me at the Master's office in three minutes, not bothering to explain why and immediately terminating the connection with my brother now that I remembered how. With my goal now clear, I dashed off into the maze of stone and darkness towards Sakura's room. For a second, I considered turning around and leaving, blaming the whole scene I caused on one big alcohol-induced overreaction.

But a strong vision of Sakura bleeding to death in my arms reminded me that there was too much at stake to be careless.

Without knocking, I barged into the room of my lover, and I was effectively gobsmacked for at least two full seconds.

Much like that one night, ages ago, on which the spark was first ignited, Sakura was wearing her favorite pair of high heels and thigh-high hold-ups, laying down on her bed in a seductive position. Also considering she was very much naked aside from her stockings and shoes, my head basically exploded right then and there. Seemingly still oblivious to my distressed state, Sakura giggled at my surprised look. As quickly as it came, her devious smile made way for concern when she noticed the pure fear in my eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Sakura, I... We need to see Itachi and Kakashi. And Minato."

"What's g-"

"Sakura,_ now_."

She gulped and nodded. "Yeah. Okay. Lemme just get dressed and-"

"Sure, why don't you go take a bath and a get a full-body massage while you're at it?" I barked cynically. "There's shit happening, I can feel it. You're in danger. We all are."

With the same aggression as I barged in and raised my voice at her, Sakura pulled a simple cherry-red dress from her dresser and threw it on while looking me directly in the eye. "Done. Let's go."

I blinked, surprised at her bold interpretation of making haste by not even putting on underwear, and took a moment before warping back to reality. "Yeah."

We took off towards Minato's office, striding as fast as I could while still giving Sakura a chance to keep up with me without having to compromise her privacy. She kept firing questions at me, each of them met by a wall of cold silence. I had already told her that there was no time, and she was going to have to trust me once again on this one. Although I was really hoping that this whole thing was worth all the hassle. I had a hunch that I would lose a lot of credibility if it turned out to be a waste of time.

Maybe I should have Inoichi or Tsunade check my mental health one of these days.

Without as much as a knock, I practically kicked open the door into the Master's office to find all of my superiors glaring at me with sleepy eyes. The smell of fresh coffee seduced my senses, bidding me to calm down and for the sake of everything that was right, start explaining to the rest what was going on.

I couldn't help but notice Itachi passive-agressively playing with his weapon, pulling back the hammer every so often and releasing it with the trigger, but never loading it with actual rounds. Wearily, he sighed "You better have a very good explanation for all of this, brother, lest I blow a hole in your face where you stand if you don't."

I sighed deeply. "Okay, listen up. I -" I muttered a few unintellegible things before finding an appropriate way to put my knowledge into words. "Here's the thing. I've been doing a lot of thinking recently, and there's something that's bugging me." I gratefully took the mug of coffee Sakura handed me. "This thing that's bugging me - it's been going on ever since we fused with Angel Witch."

"What are you getting at?" Kakashi demanded. I glared at him as a means of telling him to have some patience.

"I can't get over the feeling that everything about the whole deal went so smoothly. I mean, I was sent on a mission with Naruto, all of a sudden Sakura shows up, we carry out our orders and the next thing we know, this rival creed is suddenly a part of us. Now fast forward to the... incident between me and her." I beckoned at Sakura and filled Minato in on the situation that went down at that time. "I can't believe we're only realizing this now, but everyone, even the people I've been taught to call my own, basically betrayed me at that time. And that wasn't because of what I did."

"Oh, stop bullshitting, you know how people like Kiba think about dudes beating girls," Kakashi snapped, but I interrupted him before he could continue.

"Even then Jiraiya taught us to stick with each other regardless of our personal differences. You taught us. No, this wasn't because of me. It was because of _her_." I pointed at Sakura, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"W-what did I do?" she stammered, but I was too worked up to try and comfort her. "Sasuke, are you accusing me of something?"

"No, listen!" I snapped. "I got this from Naruto - or actually, from the... the demon inside Naruto. It's picking up something extraordinary about you that unnerves it. Scares it, even. And according to Naruto, the only thing a demon truly fears is not some 21-year-old punk with a pea shooter. It's magic." I gulped. "Divine magic."

"You mean... You mean like Konan?"

"No, Konan's a witch who happens to specialize in growing wings and keeping up the illusion of being an angel. No, the demon fears your magic. Your aura. I have no idea about any of the specifics, but you have angelic blood in your veins. You, Sakura, are the key to destroying the Disciples of the Moon's Eye. You are the key to true paradise. You are an angel."

I could see the maelstrom of shock, fear, relief, anxiety and a plethora of other emotions swirling inside the girl with the pink hair through her ever-so-captivating emerald eyes. She blinked uncontrollably, mouth agape, frozen to the spot. Itachi had dropped his coffee, but no one seemed to register the sharp shattering of ceramic on cold stone. The only one that seemed to be unfazed was Minato, who took a deep breath and looked up at me. "Tell me, how is this so important that you had to wake us up at this hour?"

"Because my instincts tell me that this knowledge somehow ties in with everything that has happened up to this point, including the death of our former master and Madara revealing itself as the leader of Moon's Eye. Also, and I'm not entirely sure why, but my gut feeling is that we are all in grave danger. Something bad is happening, and soon. Like I said, Naruto and I are convinced that Sakura is the key, the linchpin to the course of our future."

"What's the catch?"

"We're not the only ones who know. I don't know how, but I can feel it. It's a far stretch, but my instincts rarely failed me."

"Is there any way we can get any definitive proof of your claims, aside from coincidence, speculation and the word of a demonic presence inside one of our assassins?"

"That assassin is _your son_, for fuck's sake!" I yelled, but my outburst didn't faze the master.

"Listen, I know this is a shock for all of us. But we can't know for sure what exactly resides inside her, like we still don't know for certain what Naruto's demon really is."

"There will be, soon enough."

Terror raged through my body, amplified by the mental and emotional connection with my brother; I was pretty sure we were the only ones to recognize that malevolent voice without even having to look into the evil void of Madara Uchiha's eyes. As I whirled around and whipped out my weapon in one fluent motion, I could see the desperation on my lover's face for one agonizing moment before her entire body shattered into countless shards of glass. I tried to cry out her name, but my limbs were paralyzed and my mouth was frozen shut. I could see the shards rain down in slow motion, making the process of burning the memory into my mind even more painful.

Steel clattered on stone as my pistol slid out of my hand. I could feel all the strength flow from my body. It made way for despair. My body and mind went limp, enduring but not registering Madara's evil cackle. His voice droned inside my head, inside all of our heads, like the voice of a demon. "Ignorant fools. It was a lucky draw to snatch her from under my nose with the fusion. Like you snatched Naruto away from me so many years ago, Minato." In a flock of crows, Madara materialized in the center of the room, ethereal yet solid, breaking the laws of both physics and magic. His wicked grin was unchallenged by even the most vicious of mentally deranged opponents any of us encountered in our time, even Kabuto's. "How delighted I am to hear that you have not the slightest idea of the potential you have under your wing. Orochimaru will appreciate this - your incompetence is almost comically pitiful."

Madara turned to me, somehow without taking his eyes off the others in the room. "The girl is with me. I will notify Orochimaru to start the extraction procedure immediately. Oh, don't look so upset," he made no effort to hide the sadistic satisfaction he obtained from driving me deeper into desperation. "The only pain she will go through is the insurmountable feeling of abandonment she will feel when she dies knowing you made little to no effort to save her."

Freezing rain washed over me. I could feel the warm salty tears run down across my cheeks, the tears I shed solely because I was feeling so powerless, so failed. Eleven years I had strained every fibre of my body and every strand of my mental capability to be able to protect the ones I loved - Itachi, Naruto, and for about a year now, Sakura - and here I stood, nailed to the ground while my mortal enemy mocked me and deepened the gaping slash in my soul by abducting the love of my life.

The worst part? I knew that Madara was right - there was nothing I could do to save her in time.

My knees, no longer able to bear the burden of my paralyzed torso, buckled as I cried out in anger and sadness, emotions everyone knew I had little to no experience dealing with adequately. I only realized I was on the brink of losing myself in despair when I noticed Itachi's hand on my shoulder. He lifted me to my feet with a solemn look and embraced me like only a brother could.

"We're going to find her, Sasuke. You and I together. I promise."

"Count me in," Kakashi said.

"I believe it fair to assume everyone in this family is willing to make sacrifices for the well-being of our sister," Minato said, remaining calm and collected like only Jiraiya had been able to before. It made me want to strangle him. I opened my mouth to yell at him, but Itachi restrained me and shook his head. "But we're going to need a strategy and intelligence. We're going to end this."

Itachi said, "We're going to need an army if we plan to take on Madara, and that is without counting his goons, Kabuto, and Orochimaru."

As if he knew something none of us did, Minato's eyes darted from Itachi and me to Kakashi. And for the first time since the first assignment he worked with Anko after they broke off their relationship, I could read unease on the little part of his face that showed between his face mask and his silver hair. He closed his eyes, sighed deeply and seemed to be running a plethora of scenarios through his head at once. He didn't return the penetrating stare the master gave him and sighed again. "I can't."

Minato pressed on. "You heard Madara. You know what's at stake here."

He grunted in frustration and glared at no one in particular. "You think they give a shit? They're at war. Besides, most of them are dead. What's left is bands of savages and rabid, mindless animals." Kakashi turned around and saw both my brother and myself stare at him in confusion, anxiety and caution. Annoyed, he started to pace around the room and finally dropped in one of the luxurious armchairs that decorated the office.

Minato's voice cut through the thick tension and Kakashi's frustration alike, and like a father to a son, he reassured Kakashi that now was the best time to come clean. "They deserve to know, Kakashi. I know how difficult it has been, but this isn't just about Sakura. This is about the future of the world we're working so hard to rebuild."

"...Fine."

With trembling hands and a unusually worried expression, the silver-haired man reached for his face mask. He stripped it off painfully slowly, revealing the secret he worked so hard to keep safe and finally confirming what everyone had suspected for years.

Kakashi Hatake was a vampire.

Before I could register what happened, Itachi walked up to the man he considered his unrelated brother since he was four years old, towering over him with balled fists. Knowing fully well that Itachi had once lost our cousin and his best friend Shisui to a vampire bunch, Kakashi solemnly closed his eyes and nonverbally gave Itachi his permission to repay him for his treachery. Itachi lifted the other man to his feet by his collar.

Then he embraced him like he had embraced me not ten minutes ago.

"Anko told me everything," my brother explained to a dumbfounded Kakashi upon releasing him. "I checked in with her just now and she told me how you risked your life and health to save Shisui's." He continued to summarize the events of Shisui's passing for us; that Kakashi took out five of the seven leeches that had assaulted our cousin before the sixth got to him. How for months, Kakashi had fought the urges to give in to the madness. How he finally overcame the lurking shadows in his mind by meeting Anko.

"And that's why," Kakashi concluded, "I can't rally any of my kin. There's too much human left inside of me for them to mistrust. The bloodlust is too weak in me; in their eyes, I'm weak and useless."

I noticed that one part of the story was left quite unfinished. "What's so special about Anko that enabled you to resist the bloodlust and keep your human conscience?"

Kakashi shook his head. "It is not my place to tell you. If it's that important to you, you should ask her yourself. In fact, I think she might be of greater use to you than I could ever be." That last part was directed at Minato.

"Bring her in."

Itachi nodded and took a few steps back to delve into his mind for the connection with the woman again. Meanwhile, I slumped to the chair Kakashi had been in before confessing and like lead, my body sank to the rugged leather while my head started to spin. The adrenaline rush started to wear off, and the full blast of the past events crashed down on me like a tsunami. The situation as it had presented itself gave a new definition to feeling powerless.

And by god, did it put me back in my place.

I tried to reach for Naruto through my own mental powers. I felt the familiar yet ever-uncomfortable presence of the demon entering my subconscious, mocking me without uttering any sound whatsoever. As if he knew something big I was missing. In fact, even after filling Naruto in on current events, the feeling that the truth was dancing in front of me singing the Russian National Anthem wouldn't leave my system.

I tried to pierce the adrenaline- and stress-induced mist in my mind to dig up the words that had been said prior to Sakura's capture. There had been something that made me want to stab my master in the face,  
>something that he wiped off the table like a crumb of bread. Something concerning my best friend.<p>

I shot up and whipped out my gun. Itachi and Kakashi staggered backwards, startled and surprised, while I strode over to Minato and pointed the barrel at the center of his forehead. "You lied to us."

Minato remained stoic as ever. "Did I."

"You damn well know you did, you motherfucking traitor!" I kicked the desk and shoved it a good two feet backwards, knocking over the man and chair behind it. While the blond scrambled up, Kakashi and Itachi rushed in to restrain me and succeeded. Itachi got a hold of my gun and Kakashi had me in a chokehold, arms restrained and legs paralyzed by enough pressure on the correct nerve center. Neither could stop me from screaming though.

"You lied to us, Minato! You know that your son's demon is a piece of Madara's evil soul! You said it the day you came in to usurp our order, begging us to trust you and we did! You know what he's going to do with her, and you know why! That's why you wanted to get in behind enemy lines. You're on Madara's side!"

"Sasuke-"

"Let go of me, you fucking leech!" In a fit of rage, I yanked my arm from Kakashi's grip and headbutted him in the nose. I heard the bone in his nose snap, and in a reflex he let my other arm go to clutch his nose. Before I could wrench my gun from Itachi's possession, though, something hard hit me in the back of the knee, buckling me, and cold steel touched my temple. Cold steel I knew to be from Minato's dual handguns, the guns that belonged to Kakashi. The guns that his inferior hands shouldn't ever have been allowed to touch.

"_Calm. The fuck. Down._" Minato spoke through his teeth, showing genuine emotion for the first time since his reunion with Naruto. Except this time, I refused to let myself be impressed by his dominating presence. Gambling on the fact that he wouldn't shoot me as soon as I made the slightest move, I rose to my feet and turned to glare him straight in the piercing blue eyes Naruto inherited from him (except Naruto's turned crimson from 21 years of dark energy corrupting his genetic system).

"Fuck you, Uzumaki. Or Namikaze. Whatever I should call such a despicable, treacherous, cheap, lying, self-important, pathetic excuse for a human being." I could see the life energy inside him disrupt, breaking through his emotionless façade, knowing my words hit home. "I used to feel bad for Naruto, for losing both his parents and blaming himself. But now I'm glad, because at least I was blessed to witness him grow into an infinity of times a better man than his father."

I snatched my gun back from a petrified Itachi without taking my eyes off Minato, turned my back on him and walked out the door.

My life as an assassin was over, I thought with little remorse as I exited the compound through one of the many secret passageways, and like my canvas Chucks hit moist soil with every step I took from my old life, I walked one step closer to my new one.

My life as an assassin was over, I thought with little remorse while the needle pierced my vein and the fresh bottled adrenaline rejuvenated my tired muscles and mind. I was free from the shackles of a corrupted system, and free to live my life as a rogue.

Itachi would be hunting me. Naruto would be hunting me. And I would gladly die by either of their hands. But I wasn't about to let the fate of the world, my world, slip from my fingers while the people I trusted for more than a decade stood by and watched.

I stocked up on ammunition and commenced my search for every bit of information I could gather. I was a broken man, with nothing to lose and only one thing to live for. Call me selfish, call me delusional, and I would likely agree. But the rule of literature stated a hero always has his flaws. And while this was nothing like a novel where the writer could simply change the plot for a happy ending, oftentimes my life had turned out more bizarre than imagination.

"_Hold on, Sak,_" I thought while some hooded guy covered up my rose tattoo with the image of a grim reaper in the basement of some shady back-alley drinking joint. "_I'm on my way._"


	32. Chapter Thirty Two

**Chapter Thirty-Two**  
><em>"The tongues of men and angels, bought by a beloved traitor..."<em>

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><p>His eyes were on me.<p>

I could feel it. That piercing, omnipresent gaze that imprisoned the entire planet. Or at least that was the illusion my brother's eyes could bring upon someone. And frankly, it didn't even really bother me; I covered my tracks as a matter of habit, but even if I wasn't half-assing it, I trusted my brother. He was skillful enough to be around every corner at any time, and he would have an arsenal of techniques to end my life with before I would even know he was there.

Therefore I stopped faking a casual stroll through the damp alley and smiled, at peace with my fate. I knew there was no one around to witness the murder that was about to be committed - Itachi was too careful to let his plans be spoiled by a stray peasant. I knew Naruto would be watching from the sidelines. The unusually chilly autumn breeze gently played with the seams of my long leather coat. My fingers loosely clutched my weapon. I was almost hoping to feel the enthousiasm of the demonic entity in Naruto's soul, the enthousiasm of witnessing humans suffer and shedding blood of their brethren.

It was no surprise when the demon broke through the barrier of my mind and corrupted my thoughts with evil and malice. Not as much as the appearance of Naruto was, instead of Itachi.

"Evening, Uchiha."

He was unarmed, he looked exhausted, and if I wouldn't know better, I would swear he had been tortured either physically or psychologically. With an unnecessary amount of guilt, I admitted to myself that most of it was probably my doing, leaving the Rose and all.

Still, I was surprised it took them a whole two days to find me. "Where's Itachi?"

"Hopefully following the decoy leads I set up for him." The way he casually studied his nails while admitting to sabotage told me something was off.

"You don't want to find me. He didn't want to find me. You're trying to protect me."

Naruto stretched. "You're warm, but I can't count that as a right answer. Wanna use a lifeline or should I send you home with what you have now?" The way he said the word 'home' briefly sent a sting of pain through my heart. I shook it off and thought for a moment, but Naruto was already pretty much next to me. I tightened my grip on my gun, a gesture I knew would tell Naruto I was actually alert this time.

"Why am I still alive?" I demanded. "There are a lot of people perfectly capable of taking my life, especially you and Itachi. Why did it take so long?"

"Because we want to find you and bring you home."

I laughed cynically. "Oh please."

Naruto snickered for a few seconds as well, before turning his back on me and walking off. "Like I said, you were close. We don't want you dead. But that's not limited to just Itachi and I." Naruto started pacing back and forth in front of me, while I made myself a little more comfortable and leaned to a graffiti-covered wall. "Itachi pretty much instantly tracked you down, because you know, he's Itachi and shit. But instead of ordering your head on a plate, my father ordered us to observe you and intercept the intel you aqcuire."

Minato's nerve really started to irk me now. Fuck that, I was furious. In a reflex, I flicked the safety off my gun and pointed it at Naruto, probably triggered by the similarity between father and son. "So first he manipulates all of us to usurp our Order, then betrays us by selling out to Madara and lying to all of us and now he's too goddamn lazy to do his own fucking detective work? What a class act, that fella."

Instead of the glare I expected, Naruto caught me off guard by starting to snicker again, which quickly developed into a mocking, sinister laugh - almost demonic, even. I bit my tongue to restrain myself from pulling the trigger on him for real this time. The way he laughed was intended to really hurt me, and even though I was driven by rage at the moment, it still stung. Especially since it was Naruto who ridiculed me like this.

"I have to say, my father didn't lie when it comes to how he described you like an overreacting, angsty teenager, so convinced of his own smarts that he lost all touch with reality."

In my rage, fueled even more by the insults Minato channeled through his son, I lashed out at Naruto, who blocked and countered me with little to no effort. I knew where I was lacking, but I couldn't help it - besides, in my current state, I would likely never be able to lay a hand on him. Hand-to-hand combat was more a game of wits than an actual fight, and my enraged mind was incapable of rational thought at this moment.

No longer in a state to make proper judgment, I slapped my hand on my shoulder holster, but my fingers felt nothing but reinforced leather. My ankle holster was empty as well, I noticed when I checked my backup piece. I looked back up at Naruto, who carelessly twirled both pistols around his finger by the trigger guard. I bolted towards him and tried to tackle him to the ground, which was the most stupid mistake I could've made at that point. In one fluent move, Naruto threw up the guns and intercepted me, using my momentum to bring me off balance and work me to the ground. His grip was unusually strong, I noticed while the blond ground my cheek across the cold, dirty concrete. He caught my trusted weapon with his free hand, and I felt the steel jab into the base of my head while the other gun hit the ground with a metallic 'clank'.

"Grow the fuck up, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled in my ear while applying more pressure to the sensitive area at the back of my head with my pistol. I tried to push back with my head, but his arm was naturally stronger than my neck muscles. I felt a sharp stinging pain in my kidney from where his knee was pressing, while his other foot held my left arm on the floor. He had positioned himself that even with a free hand I couldn't reach him or break his hold. In the meantime, Naruto continued barking insults and revelations at me. "Did you ever even think for one second about the fact that my father probably would've left the Rose already if he really was in Madara's pocket? Did you? Did you ever think about the importance of the fact that he's not only actively looking for Sakura's whereabouts, but even monitoring the scum of the earth like you to find even the smallest lead possible? Ever think a tiny, insignificant detail could slip his mind in the chaos?"

"How do you-"

"Shut up!"

His fist slammed into my temple, bashing my skull into the ground before I had even realized I had lifted it an inch while Naruto prepared his swing. The contact with the hard stone broke the skin on my brow, and I could feel blood rushing to my head while blood from the wound dripped onto the floor. As if the blow to my head cleared up the mist that clouded my view on the world as-is, I could suddenly put things into perspective again. I relaxed my muscles to indicate that I wouldn't put up a fight anymore, but Naruto wouldn't let up. "The fact that Sakura got abducted was bad enough," he scoffed through his teeth. "But how in the name of everything that is good could you go against the teaching of our late Master, my mentor? You don't deserve the title of Assassin. You're no better than the enemy you once swore to put down."

"Naruto-"

"I said shut your trap, Uchiha. You didn't think of the fact that my father is under a fuckload more stress than anyone of us right now, with the lives of two dozen people on the line? Hell, for all I know - and I happen to know a lot thanks to Madara's godforsaken presence in my head - the entire world could be obliterated by what's about to happen. Again. So get the fuck over yourself and make yourself useful instead of getting people with more pull into more trouble."

"But Sakura-" I tried to look up at him, sensing that the pressure he put on my head diminished a bit, but Naruto pushed me back to the floor with no sign of remorse.

"For fuck's sake, Sasuke! Sakura is not your responsibility! Her safety is Minato's responsibility!" I was genuinely taken aback by his use of his father's given name. "And if you wouldn't have acted like the immature fuckwad you acted like, we'd be a lot closer to locating her than we are now!"

I didn't even try to iquestion him why. Because of my selfish desperation, I not only triggered the necessary safety precaution of sending an assassin after me to silence me, my high rank and record forced Minato to deploy two of his best agents, and all modesty aside, I counted myself among the best as well. So because of my overreaction, the Black Rose was now short three of its top-class members whose manpower could've been utilized to pinpoint Sakura's location.

Minato was right. I was an overreacting, angsty teenager who had lost all touch with reality.

God, I was stupid.

"That's enough I believe," Itachi's voice bellowed throughout the entire realm of my existence. Suddenly Naruto, or what I believed to be Naruto, slowly deteriorated and vanished into smoke and ashes. A fog so thick one could almost cut it concealed the shabby buildings and the ground underneath me dissolved until my body was an inch deep in some kind of liquid that radiated with magical energy.

Even though Naruto was gone and I laid in an inch of water face down, the pressure on my body remained the same while I noticed my clothes didn't get wet. I strained my muscles, feeling them scream and burn in protest, but I managed to work myself to my hands and knees, and I was finally able to try and discern some shapes in the pulsing, swirling mass. Two crimson orbs of light slowly pierced the dusty clouds, surrounding a deep onyx core. The fierce rays of light stung my eyes, and suddenly it felt like an anvil was dropped on my back. Unable to support myself with my already aching arms, my joints gave in to the weight and I slammed my body back down into the liquid.

"Welcome to my world, brother," Itachi's voice thundered from the mist. "And thank you for giving me the opportunity to finally test it for real."

"Where are you, bastard," I slurred through my teeth, unable to properly move my jaws apart from the pressure the air seemed to have.

"I am everywhere. I am nowhere. I am everything. I am nothing. I am this world."

Suddenly, some immense force shoved everything heavy off my back, as if someone rescued me from underneath a pile of rubble, and I was able to stand up. And I immediately regretted that mistake. Much like Naruto had done to Kisame Hoshigaki, the lower half of both my calves were covered in cuts and burns. In between gasps of pain and exhaustion, I managed to mutter the question who did this to me. Before Itachi - wherever he was - answered, I cringed and moaned in pain as I could feel something sharp slowly piercing the skin on my wrist where my tattoo was. I couldn't see or touch it, but it slowly pushed deeper into skin and flesh, drawing blood like any normal blade would.

I cried out in pain as the knife that didn't exist started to draw a path, as if to cut out a piece of skin from my arm, and when I could finally bring myself to look at the torture that was happening to me, my agony mixed in with disgusted amazement.

The force that was mutilating me was cutting out my reaper tattoo, scraping off pieces of skin until only the logo that belonged to the Order of the Black Rose remained.

Then it suddenly stopped. The pain was gone, the blood was gone, the exposed veins and tendons were covered up by pristine skin and ink.

Except this time, the reaper that was supposed to cover up the rose of my past was gone altogether. Still a bit numbed by unbelief and trauma, I ran a shaking and twitching finger across the smooth, soft skin, recognizing every slight scar and every curve. I turned back to the eerie balls of light, oddly familiar in color and shape. I felt like Itachi's voice, however encompassing it had seemed, originated from them.

Something grabbed my hair at the back of my head and pulled me from the ground by it. We sped up and everything went white for a brief second.

When I came to, I was back at HQ, hanging from the rope that was tied around my wrists. I was shirtless and drenched in sweat, feeling the fever already kicking in, and gasped for air. I felt like I had been underwater too long in freezing cold water, shivering uncontrollably. I stared at the ground blankly, not seeing anything solid for a good two minutes. With great effort, I lifted my head to look at the people I could sense around me.

In front of me stood Itachi, Minato, Kakashi and Naruto. My gaze was drawn towards the faint glimmer of light that didn't seem to come from the dancing torches, and it all made sense when I saw the crimson afterglow in my brother's eyes. Trying my hardest to ignore the nauseous feeling, I mustered up the strength to voice my thoughts. "H-how lo..." the rest went missing in the eruption of vomit that rained onto the stone with a repulsive, slimy splat. Trained professionals as they were, all of my peers remained unfazed.

Itachi shot Minato a brief, but important look. Minato nodded and Itachi folded his arms before he spoke. "That was Imaginaerum. As you can see, it is quite effective even to ourselves." After explaining how I had inflicted both the burns and wounds to my own legs, how I had carved the outline of our guild tattoo in my skin and how I would've cut off my own fingers next if he hadn't stopped it, I spit out some leftover vomit and swallowed a few times before asking the in my opinion two most important questions.

"How long, and for fuck's sake, why?"

"Ten minutes, right after you wrestled yourself from Kakashi's hold," Minato answered. Kakashi had his face mask back on so I couldn't see the damage I did, but he would probably have visited Tsunade in the ten minutes I spent in my brother's dream world. "From the first moment I was reinstated in the Order, I had my suspicions about Sakura. I spent a lot of time talking to my son and his demon, begging him to keep it a secret." I glared at Naruto, who in turn glared back, as if to say that he was following his master's orders like I should have done. "However, I feared that this was bound to happen at some point. And with your exceptionally powerful bond with her, I feared that you might have become the greatest liability. Therefore I discussed this failsafe with your brother and Kakashi." He paused for a second to look me in the eye and let Naruto take over.

"We didn't really expect Madara to act this quickly after we devised our plan, but I knew we could rely on his shard of evil in my head. I was the radar; earlier tonight, I could feel him preparing for it. That's why I told you about Sakura's power. We didn't - and still don't, matter of fact - know why Madara needs her or how he is going to put her power to use, but my father knew that he would want to flaunt his superiority and therefore would wait until all of his most powerful enemies and you were in the same room together."

I opened my mouth to ask why, but closed it again because I already knew once the words sank in. Madara wanted to send a message to his enemies, show them how superior he was by abducting his target while everyone stood by and watched helplessly. He wanted to demoralize us, cause conflict in between us, and drive us to the brink of sanity. Madara didn't regard me as one of his more powerful enemies (and with good reason, I thought cynically while I surveyed the state I was in); I was there simply because of my, as Minato had described it, exceptionally powerful bond with her.

Not only that, he had also wanted us to have caught on to her importance, striking while we were still in the dark about his intentions with her.

I let my head hang in repentance, in conflict because part of me was glad that we still had an extra forty-eight hours I thought we had lost, while the other part felt embarrassed because I knew the things Itachi had said to me through the illusion of Naruto were true. I took a deep breath and looked up, catching the gaze of Minato's piercing blue eyes. "Where are we now?"

"We sent a few clay Deidaras to scout the location where Suigetsu pinpointed Moon's Eye's based a couple months ago," Kakashi said while Naruto undid my ropes and popped me a few painkillers. "Apparently they found out, because the place is deserted save for a few zombies. Anko is on her way to the Royal Lair of Sanguine to speak to the Emperor of the vampire tribes as we speak."

When the silver-haired man mentioned the vampire mistress' name, I suddenly remembered what I had been meaning to ask her once I learned of Kakashi's true form. "Why Anko?"

Kakashi tensed up, with his inhuman deductive skills and immense knowledge of psychology undoubtedly knowing why I was asking this now. He looked away from me. "It is not my place to inform you about this, but under the circumstances..." He sighed deeply. "The Royal Emperor of Sanguine is Anko's father."

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><p>[Author's Note]<p>

No comment.

Signed,  
>-<em>V<em>


	33. Chapter Thirty Three

**Chapter Thirty-Three**  
><em>"The ones that were rendered unwhole as infants, forsaken to the bloodlust..."<em>

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><p>It was almost disgraceful how I never wondered why Anko remained so sane even though she carried the vampire's disease as well - and to be frank, the reading material we had over at Intel didn't know much either. Apparently, in order to retain your sanity, it was vital to resist the urge to feed for as long as the virus was corrupting your genetic structure. It could take months or even years, and only the strongest individuals could survive the free-fall into madness. However, Anko, as I knew now, was special; as the royal princess to the House of Sanguine, she was born with her genetic structure already altered. It allowed her body to develop the gene and improve it, potentially ascending her power to levels unimaginable to the Emperor and his minions.<p>

The Emperor was bright enough to banish her at the age of 12 for that very reason.

I intentionally allowed the magical energy in the palm of my hands to catch on fire as Itachi, Naruto and I escorted Anko through the throne room. The atmosphere in the ancient dungeon was moist, and flickering blue flames that shed no warmth cast long shadows from the pillars that supported the second-story balcony. Pressed against the back wall a throne shaped like a casket was risen from the same kind of large bricks that made up the walls. It was flanked by two large fire pits that emitted the same kind of magical blue fire. However, the magically repressed rays of light that felt more comfortable to the leeches were drowned in the blaze of my natural fire.

It humored me how anxious, or afraid, even, most of the vampires looked once they recognized the frowning woman in front of us. Even the Emperor himself seemed caught off guard, but if he even felt any discomfort at all, he masked it well. In the corner of my eye I saw a shadow creep up behind me, and with the reflexes of a true assassin I spun around and torched the vampire that tried to stab me in the back with a sparkling silver knife. The flames caught onto his skin and clothes in a matter of seconds, and a large fire bright as day now drowned the room in natural warmth. I smirked cockily when I saw the look on the Emperor's face turn from general annoyance to a nervous, stressed frown. His minions either scrambled for the few shadowy areas left in the throne room or fled the room altogether through the heavy wooden doors to the left and right of the throne.

The Emperor, though visibly unnerved by the knowledge and abilities of his peers, seemed unaffected by the light itself. This confirmed Anko's warning that he would probably be shielding himself from magical attacks with a barrier of some sort. Seeing as how magic was the only way to be certain of killing a vampire aside from blunt decapitation, the magic barrier provided a sufficient protection against most attempt for his eternal life.

But then again, most enemies didn't have Anko. She nodded at Itachi, who transformed the blue flames into natural fire with a simple blink of his eyes and raised his fists, now blazing with white hot flames. I too clenched my fists and set the magical energy pouring out of my knuckles on fire. Before her exile, Anko was taught a variation of highly valuable secret barrier techniques of which the spell tomes had been in possession of the Sanguine dynasty.

As she stepped forward and simply dispelled the barrier protecting her father's life with a wave of her hand, he seemed to remember that fact as well.

"Does anyone else think that this is going way too easy?" I thought into Naruto's and Itachi's brains. Then the Emperor threw his hands up in the air and hissed a formula, conjuring a magical void that devoured light and warmth like a black hole.

I could hear the blazing fire of my brother around me, and I knew we were safe - knowing my brother, he probably encased us in a dome of flames to keep us from being on the menu of the leeches swarming us.

The magical darkness was impenetrable, and the memory of my first intimate encounter with Sakura tugged at my heart, remembering how our special evening started out with a similar inability to see. Fortunately, this time I had a gun. From Itachi's coordinated movements I picked up in the corner of my eye, I figured that he activated his extrasensory abilities as well. However, the only sources of life I could clearly make out were my brother and my best friend. There were numerous hazy dots of life force around, but the bright blue flames I was used to remained largely invisible. I tried to remember what Intel had on vampires, but nothing about their life force came to mind. So I turned to the living (I started to doubt that now) source of vampire knowledge somewhere in front of me.

"Why can't I see your kind?" I asked bluntly, simply feeling Anko smirk because I was only starting to realize it now.

"According to classic legend and literature, vampires are both undead and immortal. However, while zombies are simply corpses reanimated by black magic and therefore neither undead nor immortal, vampires are in fact a breed of elves." I nodded, even though I was certain no one could properly translate the nonverbal gesture under the current circumstances. Anko continued nonetheless. "Vampires are special in a sense that they can transfer their racial properties through the venom in their fangs. Because Elves can see the life force of other creatures as part of their anatomy. Therefore, vampires evolved to be virtually invisible to those capable of seeing life force."

"Hold on, you're telling me our eyes are actually a part of elven genetics?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Did you know about this?" I asked Itachi. He didn't answer. I turned to my brother, able to identify his life force through the minor disturbances his nervousness caused him. "Itachi, what do you know about mom and dad that you didn't tell me?"

"Jiraiya thought it would be a bad idea."

"Look where that got us!" I snapped. "Jiraiya's six feet under radioactive dirt, Madara's seizing parts of the planet with every second we waste and our only hope of ever standing a chance was right under our noses for more than half a year, until it was taken from us while we idly stood by! I-"

I never got a chance to finish the sentence, as a surprisingly soft and gentle yet commanding hand placed a finger on my lips. I figured it was Anko's. "We know you have it rough," she said softly, like a mother comforting her child. "It's tough for all of us. We all love Sakura, just like we all loved Jiraiya. But you need to stay calm and keep it together, because if we lose you on top of that, there's no way we can hope to survive. Itachi, tell him."

Itachi sighed, annoyed, and I could slowly start to feel the warmth of the flames around me. Whether that was because of the magic void losing power or whether it was a sign of my brother's inner turmoil, I had no idea. Then again, I had little desire to find out.

"Do you remember encountering the Wood Elf in the woods back in the day?" He took my annoyed silence as a yes. "That was no coincidence. Saelian, or Yamato, is a relative of us. Our mother was his sister."

"Mom was an Elf?" I stuttered, genuinely surprised.

"She was a half-breed, actually," Anko explained. "Saelian and your mother share the same father, but a different mother. Saelian's was a Wood Elf, whereas your grandmother was human. You still inherited the genes that gave you your special eyes, though, and quite possibly your extremely good looks and your dead aim with all kinds of weaponry are a result of your elven ancestry as well."

"Anyway, the important part is that that's why you're both such valuable assets to us," Naruto joined the conversation for the first time. "Madara, being your father's grandfather, has none of your special powers and that's why he so desperately tried to get to you through the ones you love."

Putting the pieces together, I took a deep breath and paused a moment before I aimed my next important question at my brother. "The ones Madara used to get to you... They were mom and dad, right?"

"Yes," Itachi replied sullenly. "The contract in which dad was made out to be a crooked cop was a forgery, crafted by Madara. He went as far as to use Orochimaru to modify Jiraiya's memory to make him think it was a legitimate hit. When mom found out, she went beserk from shock, grief and desperation and tried to kill me. She also threatened to hurt you and I-" He swallowed the tears that choked him. "In a reflex, I had mortally wounded her. Tsunade was too late to save her life."

As far as it was possible, I was prepared for that answer. Either way, I was numbed enough by losing Sakura that the full impact of the blast would take a lot of consulting and even more alcohol to fully recover from. "Please tell me she didn't suffer."

Itachi's voice sounded as hollow as he must feel like. "Trust me, a wound that big with that much damage to the neural system, any pain her body would have been able to translate would've been numbed by the adrenaline." The curious human being in me wanted to know what exactly he did to her, but my assassin's training and moral sense decided that having made my brother recall the most horrible night in his life once without the details was enough torture.

Besides, we still had to figure out a way to penetrate this darkness, both literally and figuratively.

Naruto asked Anko whether this was a secret vampire technique and if Anko could dispel it, but while she confirmed that it was in fact a vampire technique, she was exiled before she ever had the chance to touch the scrolls. The blond man sighed deeply. "Get behind me," he said, loathing the fact that he had to tap into his malevolent soul again. We all complied without a word of protest. "Itachi, lower the flames, but don't douse them. Might be able to catch a few leeches on fire while we're at it."

Naruto chanted the magic formula that commanded his dark energy to combine with the mystic winds, consuming the darkness and bathing us in warmth and light, instantly blinding all of us except Naruto. The deathly screeches of frightened vampires frantically clawing at the stone in a vain attempt to escape their fiery grave pierced our ears. The pressure and force of Naruto's magic blew out the reinforced doors as if they were made of cardboard.

With the flailing leeches around us functioning as our torches (I decided not to let it sink in just how morbid that was, even though they were just half-sentient lackeys), the four of us bolted in the direction the Emperor had run off. As expected, the palace had an immense and complex system of dungeon hallways, holding cells and secret passageways. I cursed loudly, now knowing that my eyes were pretty much useless in tracking the Emperor down, but Anko placed a hand on my shoulder and hissed a spell. She then beckoned the three of us to follow.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to have a little chat with my father."

"How do you-"

"Vampires, no matter how high up the food chain, leave traces only detectable by other vampires. Probably to lead kinsmen to places with easy access to food." Anko made a left and dodged a trap hole in the floor. We followed suit. "Most vampires instinctively follow these traces without really realizing what's guiding them, hence the similarity to animal instincts. However, with the right enchantments, the more prominent of the bloodline are able to isolate the traces and distinguish which one to follow."

"Okay, I have to admit, that's impressive," Naruto said, for a second sounding like the carefree teenager that grew on me more than I could have ever hoped for. "I thought it couldn't get any better than Kiba's werewolf senses, as far as superhuman abilities went." Anko smiled, appreciating the compliment.

"Technically Kiba's senses are better," I said, for the first time feeling like this was just another mission. "He can trace a scent that's more than a week old, he can hear a needle drop from over a hundred yards out, and he can taste danger in the atmosphere. Hell, the dude can even smell fear and sadness." I watched with a smirk how Naruto rolled his eyes in amused annoyance.

It wasn't much, but the little casual banter that lightened the mood felt like a major revelation to me. The stress and agony of losing Sakura had been too dominant - up to the point that I was no longer able to function to my full potential. The realization of how big a risk Minato had taken by putting me on the team overwhelmed me with gratitude that even though I accused the man of treachery and backstabbing, he kept faith in me, even entrusted me with a task this important.

"What are you smiling about?" Naruto asked, snapping me back to reality. I realized the smile on my face grew broader.

"Nothing really," I said truthfully. "It just hit me how pathetic I've been, letting my feelings for Sakura stand in the way of operating to full extent. And how blessed I am with friends and family like mine, for putting up with it and pulling me through."

"You mean we're not in this joint to save the world from Moon's Eye?" Naruto exclaimed, feigning surprise in the sarcastic way only he could. "Aw man, how could my dad lie to me? Next thing I know he's actually a killer for hire or something." The amused glint in his eyes filled me with warmth.

"Sorry it took so long, guys," I muttered, blushing and fidgeting like an embarrassed teenager.

"All good," Itachi said winking. "We know you're actually really sensitive underneath your cold-hearted killer shell."

"Actually we didn't, but we read books about how normal people have feelings," Naruto said, still not letting up. "And then you suddenly went from Mr. Treestump to Dr. Love, so we figured Sakura might have been of some significance in that process."

For a brief moment I allowed Naruto's sarcastic comment to jab at my feeling, but if I learned anything at all from the predicament I had brought upon the people I once vowed to protect with my life, it was that no matter what the circumstances, assassins are meant to finish their task. Aude Audenta.

The three of us proceeded to follow the trail Anko's father left, navigating the maze with caution as even Anko herself was not aware of every trap the leeches installed over the centuries. At least that's what Kakashi told my partner and I before we left to meet with the vampire princess. Apparently, what we have believed for so long to be nothing more than subcultures - fans with a little too much devotion to their favorite supernatural folklore - were in fact the real deal. How and why nobody figured out sooner was unclear, but once the nukes went off, the vampires (and other races of elves for that matter) saw their chance and took center stage in the new world order.

It was kind of sad really, how everything that happened to the entire population of the planet in such a ridiculously short time effectively killed off pretty much every sign of advanced society. No books were written. No music was played. No plays, no comedy, nothing that the people fifteenhundred years from now would refer to as milestones in the history of humanity. All we had was the music of death that played with the sound of igniting gunpowder, projecting a chunk of lead that cracked skulls. All we had were poems written in the blood of those less fortunate or less skilled than ourselves.

We arrived at what appeared to be the last refuge of only the most important of vampires. A bunker, deep underground, with walls of a good four feet of solid concrete and a ridiculously large cast iron door with no visible locks or hinges. Itachi and I instantly started conjuring concentrated fireballs which would explode on impact, as even Anko drew a blank on this thing. "I got nothing," she grunted, annoyed with herself considering that we were so close.

However, as soon as Anko admitted defeat, Naruto dropped in a stance I had seen only once before in the last months. When he started to change into the demon form I was thankful to have almost forgotten about, I informed the others that it was best to take cover, and fast.

"Tempestatibus flectere consilium meum! Mortale in nobis servis tuis adipiscing suffocant dolorem! Ignis negavit voluntas tua, praecipio tibi obedire Daemoniacus meam animam!" Naruto chanted, firing off a wicked conjunction of the forces of nature and the forces of evil. The doors budged with great strain, but they did not break. Before the blond would do something stupid out of his blind loyalty, I promised him that we could take it from here and started applying heat to the weak points Naruto's spell had created. The process was long and tedious, even with the help of my brother, but we finally managed to make a sizable opening in the still unnecessarily huge door.

As I stepped in with my weapon drawn, I tripped over something spherical, like a rock or a ball of some sort. Upon closer examination, it was a head.

The Emperor's head.

"We knew you would be here sooner or later."

I shifted my aim from none at all to the source of the voice and found myself staring at the Hyuuga freelancers down the barrel of my gun once again. Neji casually sat upon the Emperor's throne, resting his head on his fist with the long katana he used to decapitate the Emperor still dripping with blood in his other hand. On the other armrest was Hinata, dressed and posing as a trophy girl, making me question the relationship between the two even more. While she had left her "big fucking shotgun" at home this time, the two silver handguns strapped tightly to her thighs were equally unnerving.

"We meet again, mr. Uchiha," the male Hyuuga said with his trademark pompous mannerisms that annoyed the fuck out of me. "And quite like our last little get-together, you find yourself in the charming company of a demon and a bunch of half-breeds. Wonderful."

Without any form of premeditation, I smirked. "Because you're one to talk, what with your little slut of a cousin always sucking up to you. Literally." I quietly apologized to Naruto, knowing he still had the hots for the Hyuuga chick, but regretted nothing. Not even the pistol-whip I received from Hinata after she strode over to me in her stiletto heels. She packed quite a punch for a fragile girl, effectively causing a bleeding bruise and knocking my gun out of my hands.

Now it was Naruto's time to smirk. "You have to admit, that was hot as fuck," he thought to me as I picked my gun back up with my right hand while pressing my left hand on my wound, and I was inclined to agree.

"Happy now, Uchiha?" Neji sneered, having dropped the act of the wealthy young man rather pleased with his own accomplishments. "That's gonna leave a nasty scar. You'd better get that patched up before it fucks up that pretty baby face of yours."

"What, you don't find men with scars attractive? And I had such high hopes for the two of us," I countered without missing a beat, therefore catching the freelancer off guard and providing Anko with an opportunity to neutralize him. Naruto used his Aerial Leap to tackle the female Hyuuga to the ground before she could do anything to protect her cousin while Anko made a beeline for the throne and wrapped her hand around the neck of a now visibly shaken up Neji. She bared her fangs at him, making her look like a demonic predator for a brief second. If his eyes gave anything away, the young freelancer instantly regretted his decision of killing off the Emperor.

Itachi and I casually strolled up to the throne where Anko held her captive pinned down and I couldn't resist patting him on the head, humiliating him like he loved doing to others. He tried to wrestle Anko's death grip from his throat, but she immediately applied more pressure; any more and she might have crushed his windpipe. Note to self: never let a vampire get a hold of your neck (okay, maybe that was a little more obvious that I had thought).

Only when Neji started showing signs of slow suffocation, Anko released him. What awaited him was far more horrifying than having to face a natural, full-blooded vampire. Itachi stepped up to him and looked him straight in the eye. I noticed a crimson glint in the eyes of my brother and averted my eyes, but I could feel the Hyuuga freeze. Hinata screamed and tried to bite Naruto's shoulder in a vain attempt to free herself, but one snarl from the demon host was enough to make her cower in fear. She whimpered like a scared puppy and silently sobbed, obviously thinking my brother killed her cousin.

"Relax, darling, he's not dead," Naruto growled, still suffering from the afterglow of using the demon's wicked powers. "He's merely visiting in Itachi's own wonderful little world. You know - Death, decay, suffering, torture, rape, mutilation. Things Itachi likes. It shouldn't take longer than a couple seconds."

As if on cue, Naruto was proven right when Itachi turned his back on Neji and the latted fell down in the throne like a ragdoll, unconscious but unharmed. Again, Hinata tried to get to him, but Naruto was still holding her with more force she could ever stand up to.

To our confusion, Itachi was smiling when he turned back to us and beckoned Naruto to let the girl go. The blond complied, albeit glaring as if demanding an explanation. "It is to my regret that I must admit we may have jumped to conclusions, my friends," my brother said, copying the pompousness that defined the subject of his mental torture not ten seconds ago. "The Hyuugas may have actually done us a favor by murdering the Emperor."

"Because killing off the one dude that could command the entire nest of leeches to do our bidding is certainly very beneficial to all of us," I sneered, my voice dry and full of venom. "We're brothers, Itachi. You of all people should know that I'm allergic to bullshit."

"No, he actually may be right," Anko said in a soft voice, quickly putting the pieces together. "With my father gone - Vampires are psychologically bound to do the bidding of the highest-ranking descendant of the Royal Blood. Defying their superiors drives them into decay, instantly revoking their immortality and forcing them to experience a life that is bound by age - the ultimate horror for any vampire."

"Don't tell me..." Naruto whispered, but Anko's smile predicted the answer to the question he never voiced.

"I guess you can stop calling me 'Princess', Kakashi. I'm your Empress now."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

It took me some time, but I'm finally back up to speed. Many thanks to a lot of people for helping me through a difficult time in my life. You know who you are.

-V


	34. Chapter Thirty Four

**Chapter Thirty-Four**

_"With my heart in your hands, closing your grip..."_

* * *

><p>As if Kakashi had heard the words Anko had spoken to his image in the bunker throne room (and for all I knew, he probably had - I wasn't sure anymore just what I really knew about vampires and their magical abilities), the silver-haired assassin awaited us in the main lair with the rest of the vampire minions now under Anko's command. He had abandoned his face mask, no longer feeling as if he needed to hide his true self from the rest of us, and for the first time I really witnessed the face behind the mask. All I could think that Sakura would have described him as 'even more handsome than you, Sasu-cakes'. Even though his every fiber gave away that he had been through hell and back seven times over, it all added to his intricacy.<p>

With deep and genuine respect, the vampires all knelt in unison, right hand clenched and pressed tightly against their chest. Kakashi was the one who spoke. "My Lady, if I may-"

"Rise, Kakashi," Anko spoke with a sudden royal tone deeply rooted in her voice. Without a whim, he complied, and before he had a chance to remind her that they really needed to get the ceremony going, she kissed him deeply and passionately. Stunned at first, it took Kakashi a moment to find his bearings and by the time he had, they had already broken apart. "Only those inferior to ourselves should bend a knee to us, Kakashi," Anko said softly. "And on this day I may be called your Empress, but I refuse to condemn you to an eternity as my servant." She briefly kissed him again. "As a friend and as your lover I ask you to never, ever, be that fucking disrespectful to yourself again, okay?"

Everyone including Anko couldn't help but laugh at Kakashi's sheepish look as she walked over to the throne not two hours ago still occupied by her father. The ceremony was short and straightforward; Kakashi spoke to the other vampires and demanded they vow to serve the Emperor's daughter as they had served the Emperor himself. Should they fail to pledge their allegiance or fail to hold up this eternal promise, they were to be exiled and condemned to a life of mortality. Some of the more loyal elite that served as the Emperor's personal guard caused a ruckus, reluctanct as they were to accept their new monarch, but Anko was implacable and promptly ordered the rest to execute them.

Naruto elbowed me. "Remind me to never cross that woman ever again."

"I thought you liked to dominate the dominant ones?" I teased.

"Are you crazy? She gave me the shivers before with her fangs and her glowy eyes and stuff, but now I'm downright terrified."

Itachi smacked the blond on the back of the head to shut him up and we watched the rest of the ceremony in silence. Afterwards, Kakashi walked over to us while Anko was already appointing duties to the for the most part mindless minions. "Things are going to be a lot different here, and I'm not sure they're going to like it," the silver-haired man said to us while joining us in watching his newfound lover handing out orders. "No more feeding banquets, no more prisoners, no more random killing sprees and vampires running rampant."

"What's Minato planning with these fellas?" Itachi asked. Kakashi shrugged.

"I think he wants to generate a steady stream of contracts to Anko to keep the vampires fed on her marks. Let's just hope that it's enough, otherwise she'll have to revoke the no prisoner rule."

"I know I'm not supposed to say it, especially to two of my superiors," Naruto hissed, "but I wish I wasn't obliged by the Code to allow some of my contracts a quick death."

"Is that you or the beast talking?" I asked surprisingly seriously, remembering how much dark energy had flowed through his veins less than an hour ago. Naruto just looked me deep in the eye.

"Wouldn't you want to draw out Madara's death for as long as humanly possible?"

I didn't reply, my mind overflowing with terrifyingly vivid images of everything Madara could be doing to Sakura right now, and I had to admit Naruto was right - Madara deserved everything but a quick end to the suffering that would be my wrath. Not even with my most benevolent thoughts and under Sakura's influence I could not think of anything less painless than a lifetime of being used as feeding source for an entire tribe of vampires that would satisfy my thirst for revenge. Knowing Minato, he too would want nothing more. But as the head of the Black Rose, he could never admit that, and he would say something along the lines of putting the Code and the greater good above our personal trifles.

With my eyes still closed, I lit a cigarette and took a long draw from it. The bittersweet taste of smoke rejuvenated me and I sighed. "We aren't Moon's Eye. The sooner Madara's dead, the sooner we're done with this fucking war. Every day he remains alive is another day in danger of him escaping and fucking us all over a second time."

"Now you're just trying to sound like my father."

I took another few draws from my cigarette, bending the smoke into a figure slowly slicing another figure into small pieces. "Yes. Madara's death will be an exception to the Code."

Naruto and I ignored Itachi's protests and made our way outside where I lit up another smoke and started manipulating the smoke again without really paying attention to it.

Before I even realized what was going through my head, the smoke had formed a spitting image of Sakura and I was crying on the shoulder of my best friend.

_I just miss her so much._

Loss and mourning were so commonplace in our lives that I was genuinely surprised no one ever since way back in the Middle Ages ever took it upon themselves to include it in our job description; I had been witness to good people being taken from me from the age of ten. However, death was absolute and permanent. When Itachi pulled the trigger on our father, I knew he would never come back. I could close the chapter and begin moving on. What got to me this time was the agony of purposefully being kept in the dark. If he had wanted to, Madara could've easily come up with a way to show me whether or not Sakura was still alive and in what condition.

Frankly, I would rather be cradling her dead body now just so I had something tangible, something to move on from. Solid ground to start walking again, instead of splashing around in desperation lashing out for anything to hold on to.

Naruto embraced me tightly, sensing my inner distress. In my head I just begged him to say anything to lighten the mood, not caring if he could actually hear it or not.

"Hey, do you reckon that Hyuuga chick is going to be as much of a bother to date as your girl?"

Apparently he did hear, and the flimsy strand of comic relief was just enough for me to pull myself together again. I rubbed my eyes out, took a couple of deep breaths and looked to the sky.

"Well, aside from the sex-obsessed mutt, I don't think you'll have much competition at HQ," I said smirking. "Suigetsu won't dig her, the guys at Intel are probably too busy keeping us updated to even get some off time, and Chouji's already married to his food." Again, I couldn't help but laugh. "Karin might be into her though, but Hyuuga doesn't strike me as a closet lesbian."

"Wouldn't that be like the hottest thing ever though?"

"If Karin doesn't rip your heart out during your imaginary threesomes, Hyuuga will. She doesn't seem to like sharing, considering she damn near killed Itachi with nothing but her eyes when he took care of that brother of hers."

"Fair point."

With that, we decided that we should probably head back inside to see if we could help with the procedures of establishing a new reign over the entire vampire population. While watching the half-witted husks running around with dead people, human remains and live prisoners that needed brainwashing, in the corner of my eye I caught Itachi arguing with Kakashi and Anko. The vampires wanted to stay at the lair to oversee the extreme home makeover personally, but my brother wanted his longtime partner and friend to return to HQ with the rest of us because we needed a guy with his skills. It was getting heated, up to the point where both vampires started baring their fangs at Itachi.

"We'll set up comms in the back room," Kakashi said. "CETs, CRU, ACSUs, ICD, we got pretty much everything here already. We don't need the guys from tech to come over to-"

Itachi raised his voice. "Kakashi, I'm glad that your life took a turn for the better for once and you know I wish you all the happiness in the world, but I'd appreciate it if you took your eyes off your girl for two goddamn seconds and see that we're still at war, and if we want to have any hope of stopping Madara, we need to get those two -" he shot a fireball at and startled Hinata, who tried to sneak off, supporting a still disoriented Neji, "back to HQ for interrogation and we need to do it fast."

Itachi's fireball was a silent order to capture and secure the two mercs, to which Naruto and I complied with the precision and routine of the experienced martial artists we were. Within seconds, Naruto carried a bound and unconscious Hinata, nudging Neji to start walking. The Hyuuga was still nowhere near regaining his senses, and reminded me of a 'victim' (the sceptic in me was still not sure if those weren't just accomplices) of a classic hypnotist. After receiving another order from my brother to bring the two back to HQ while he handled the unfinished business with the vampires, Naruto and I set out on another one of our silent journeys home.

Once we arrived and briefed Minato on our success, the master accompanied us to the holding cells. Naruto was a little too casual in tossing Hinata's body into the cell adjacent to Neji's, giving away more than he hid by doing so. He avoided his father's eyes and ran back up, quite certainly to his room for a drink. Unable to get anything decisive from his son, Minato turned to me for an explanation. "Did Jiraiya teach you to teach prisoners like that or is Naruto..."

I tried my hardest to keep a straight face, but the tiniest twinkle in my eyes gave away that I, too, found the situation most amusing. "Afraid so. He's got the hots for her."

"Huh." He paused for a second, scratching the back of his head. "Well, my friend, as one straight male to another, I honestly can't blame him."

His sudden change in demeanor caught me off guard, and unintelligible stammering was all I could do to respond to it. He snickered and started making his way back to his office. Still dumbfounded, I followed him, and only along the way I started to realize that he was finally starting to turn back into the man I remembered from when I was just a boy: a goofy, cheerful and protective adult with a free spirit and a hint of childish rebellion blended in. He dropped himself in the chair behind his desk, letting out an exhausted sigh, rested his feet on the tabletop and folded his arms behind his head. "So, this girl, Naruto's crush. Who is she?"

I took the liberty of treating myself one of the guild master's personal cigars, carefully lighting it and manipulating the smoke with my tongue before inhaling it. Just from the delicate smell alone, anyone who ever smoked even once could tell that this was a piece of art, crafted with respect for the tobacco. I took another draw and lifted the cigar from my lips. "Her name is Hinata. She's a Hyuuga," I simply said, knowing that that would suffice.

"Freelancers," Minato said softly, already visibly putting every brain cell to work trying to comprehend the conspiracy behind everything that was going on. "Working for who?"

"That's what we're hoping to find out."

The blond-haired man caught my gaze for a second while Kurenai walked in. She too seemed surprised by the master's informal appearance, cautiously notifying him that she would oversee Tsunade administrating the sedatives to the prisoners. Minato thanked the woman with one of his award winning smiled his son inherited from him, and while she turned around to leave, I even caught him staring at Kurenai's backside before he turned back to me. "So, you were saying?"

"I take it your acting as 'one of the guys' instead of our leader doesn't mean I can punch you for being an unprofessional twat?" I said smirking.

The sound of the master's genuine laughter filling the room was rejuvenating, not only because fun and happiness apparently weren't as dead as I thought, but also because it reassured me that some things that appear to be gone forever can return just like they were. He taunted me to try, and for a second I had to stop and make sure that I was in fact talking to Minato instead of Naruto, who was usually the only recipient of my immature behavior. Aside from Sakura, obviously, but thinking about those times simply hurt too much still and I tried my hardest to forget that I thought about it again.

I explained to Minato how we had no idea who or what sent the mercenaries to help us, and just like myself, the fact that the two apparently knew about our mission unsettled him. It was our job to be one step  
>ahead of the game, and we seemed to be outclassed at everything as of late. The master's eyes glazed out, the super computer that I imagined his brain to be processing and examining all the pieces of intel at speeds far beyond average human capability.<p>

"Anyway," I concluded while stretching, "Anko is Empress of Sanguine now, she's all lovey-dovey with Kakashi and Itachi hates him for it because he feels like Kakashi's being selfish and ignoring the greater good."

"How surprising," Minato said dryly while he summoned Kurenai again. "Tell Tsunade to prepare the blindness poison as well. These Hyuugas are tricky little fuckers, and we don't know if Kakashi can make it back to wipe their memories."

Kurenai nodded and made her way to Tsunade again while Minato dismissed me and told me he would let me know when interrogation would start. I nodded and thanked him for the cigar, laughing out loud when he casually flipped me off with a fake glare. My feet carried me to Naruto's room, I noticed when I registered the muffled sound of angry music carrying through the hard-wooden door. I didn't bother knocking and he didn't look up when I entered, instead just offering me the bottle of whatever it was he was drinking at that moment.

On a happier day in a happier time, I might have considered this a sign of the extremely special bond I shared with my friend. On days like this however, I just blamed his demonic instincts like the cynical pessimist I had turned back into. I took the bottle from him, slightly disturbing the highly alcoholic liquid inside, and took a swig. The burning sensation of the alcohol numbed my mouth and throat as I swallowed it, wincing but barely from the oh-so-satisfying burn that one never really could get used to.

Naruto was looking at the ceiling and his eyes reflected the soft light from the one source of light in his room, while also emitting their own faint crimson glow. His face was blank of any emotion - I suspected the alcohol might have had a part in that - and he was absent-mindedly playing with a bullet casing, twirling it between his fingers. I took a seat on his desk, something I would never be okay with had it been my room, and observed him in silence after offering the bottle back to him.

He took another drink and let the liquid roam his mouth before swallowing it.

"Why does it always have to be the bad girls, Sasuke?"

His voice was as broken and human as his face was stone cold and blank. No further explanation was needed to know what he was referring to. I beckoned him to give me another drink, tasting the sweetness of the actual drink through the alcohol this time, and shot a meaningful look in his general direction. His gaze was still fixed upon the ceiling, almost as if he was begging it to cave in and release him from his turmoil.

I didn't answer and simply stood up, pacing up and down the room a few times before swiftly pulling my gun out and blatantly shooting the man on the bed in his stomach; a very slow and painful death and perfect to extract information from a subject, with putting him out of his misery as leverage. I walked over to Naruto, pressed my thumb in the wound and smirking maliciously when he started to writhe and scream in agony. "Where is he?" I demanded, ignoring his pleas for mercy.

I relieved the pressure on his the wound so he could stop screaming and talk. "H-how.. did you-"

I picked up the cigar I had set on Naruto's ash tray and relit it with the precious Zippo lighter I carried with me at all time. I leaned in to the blond, almost feeling good about torturing him, blew the smoke in his face and played with the idea to push the hot end into his wound. He didn't know I would be against it, but bluffing wouldn't hurt and therefore I hovered the cigar an inch or two above the circular hole in his torso and smirked. "Hard to believe you still consider yourself in a position to ask questions. Where is he?"

The blond started laughing arrogantly, and in my rage I jammed the smouldering cigar half an inch into his wound, turning the laughter in a deathly screech. Fed by the magical flames I channelled through my hands into the tobacco, the cigar would burn forever, concentrated so skillfully that it would slowly melt away his flesh. When he started twitching, I elbowed a pressure point in his chest that paralyzed him for a good minute. I lifted the cigar from his wound and ignored his silent whimpering, furiously glaring at him; I was half tempted to shoot him in between his glowing red eyes on the spot, but I holstered my pistol and grabbed a knife from Naruto's desk.

"Y-you- you're... g-good, Sasu-" he coughed, struggling to speak. "Sasuke..."

"Where." I pushed the knife against his throat. He gulped with great effort. "Is." I applied a little pressure on the blade, slowly breaking the skin and drawing blood. "Naruto?"

He tried to cough again, and I lifted the knife just in time to prevent it from cutting open his throat. He took a few deep breaths and smirked. "Fine, you win. Naruto Uzumaki is probably interrogating the poor Hyuuga girl right now about how she helped her cousin escape your prisons. She will have no idea what actually happened and your master will explain her ignorance as toughness, unfortunately pushing her too far over the edge and killing her."

"Who are you working for."

"My boy, as an descendant of the infamous Uchiha bloodline, you should already have figured it out by now." He smirked. "After all, the one pulling the strings from the shadows you claim to love... Is one of your own blood."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

No comments at all. Just trying to wrap this up as quickly as possible.

-V


	35. Chapter Thirty Five

**Chapter Thirty-Five**  
><em>"Look into my eyes and you'll find the origins of murder."<em>

* * *

><p>Crimson stained cold steel when my blooded hands touched the sink in Naruto's bathroom. The color had a calming effect on me, satisfying even; it was a silent witness of accomplishment, it was evidence of victory. I let the cold water run over my hands to wash off the body fluid that once belonged to the informant, who I now knew to be named Zetsu. I dried my hands on a red towel, as to not leave any stains behind, and picked up the body bag I had stored the pretender in before leaving Naruto's room and slamming the door shut. I casually walked towards 'The Cage', or 'Nick' as the idiots (mainly Naruto, Kiba and Suigetsu) called it as a reference to one Nicholas Cage, an actor with a ton of crappy movies but a huge cult following.<p>

I dropped the body against the wall outside and entered the room after checking my pockets for the evidence I had secured.

"What took you so lo- what the fuck are you doing!?" Naruto yelled when I strode into the interrogation room and made a beeline for the restricted girl, starting to cut away the bindings. She was even more naked than when we encountered her in the throne room, and her back was covered in bloody cuts where Tsunade had used her 'leverage' to make her talk. She whimpered when she heard me come closer, expecting more torture, but she froze when I undid her bindings. I was halted by Minato's powerful hand grabbing my shoulder.

"Explain yourself, Uchiha."

I simply smirked and ignored him, turning to Naruto. "Sorry for the mess in your room. Oh, and you're not getting anywhere with this girl and what you're trying to get from her. Neji is dead. She knows nothing."

Naruto seemed relieved, but my eyes were almost magically drawn to Minato's piercing azure gaze before I could fully read his shifting emotions. "Dead? What the fuck are you talking about?" The master demanded with the solemn authority he had.

I sighed and told them to wait for one second, rushing back out of the room and picking up the body bag that I stored outside the door. "This guy is why." I tossed the back in the center of the room and zipped it open. "His name is - or rather, was - Zetsu. He's a Shapeshifter, working for Madara. His job was to infiltrate HQ and exterminate all of us, constantly taking the appearance of the last person he offed to not raise suspicion."

Expecting the barrage of questions, I explained to the people in the room what the man named Zetsu had told me: how he had killed and buried Neji a week ago, taking his appearance and using the Black Rose's raid on the vampire lair as the perfect opportunity to carry out his real orders. How he had used the chaos to slip out of the prison, and how he had explained it as fitting that an Uchiha should be the one to first turn his back on his family. I opened my mouth to say how he had wanted it to be Itachi because he had already took the life of his family before, but decided to keep that piece of info to myself.

"And how, in the name of everything that's sacred, are you expecting me to trust you?" Minato's thundering voice filled the room. "You of all people should know how to handle interrogations on your own, and I dare not desecrate Jiraiya's memory by insinuating he instructed you to _kill_ your source!"

Despite the master's genuine anger and his intimidating presence, I smirked and took my lighter from my pocket. "You'll trust me because of this," I said trying to hide my complacent tone as I tossed the smoking tool to the blond. He caught it with bewilderment and looked at me for an explanation, but I shook my head and nodded at the still partially restrained Hyuuga girl. "Release her first."

Minato was silent for a second, but I could see that aside from common sense, curiosity now also took hold of him. "Naruto, release her. Tsunade, patch her up and dress her." Naruto walked over to Hinata and released her, but when Tsunade tried to escort her out of The Cage, she clung to Naruto and buried her head in his shirt. I shot a questioning look from one blond to the other, but my best friend seemed just as confused as I was and Minato just slightly shook his head. "Take care of her, both of you. Uchiha, my office." he ordered before turning away and walking out of the room with me in his wake.

The two-minute walk was silent, but the curiosity that radiated off of the master gave me an increasing feeling of accomplishment I hadn't felt since Jiraiya personally praised the admirable marksman abilities of my fourteen-year old self. Minato sat down in his chair and slammed the lighter on his desk in between us. "Explain this, and fast. My patience is running out, and I hate being outsmarted by a baby-faced brat like yourself."

Still keeping my mouth shut, I picked up the lighter decorated with the Black Rose crest I had Tenten engrave into the bodywork. "When Naruto got annoyed with my habit of carrying around what he called 'useless junk' the other day, I had an idea. I talked with the guys from Tech and transformed this thing here into a pocket recorder. They removed the fuel tank and replaced it with all kinds of technology that saves, sends out and delete audio depending on what you do with it." I demonstrated how it worked and explained how I had relit the cigar I had stolen earlier, even though I clearly knew it was one of those high-quality ones that always keeps smouldering.

"So trying to light it actually starts a secret recording?"

I nodded and picked it up again. "It stops recording when you push the button disguised as the Black Rose crest and automatically uploads a copy to the central server of our intel department."

Minato smiled with amazement and amusement. "And what happens when someone else tries to light it and finds out?"

"That's the amazing part," I said, unable to repress a smirk of my own. "I practiced my fire magic to appear that the lighter is working for me, but barely as though it's almost out of gas. What do you do when your lighter is close to dying?"

"You shake it to-" he fell silent. "...No way."

I smirked at the man in the chair and placed the lighter on the table again. "When people get a hold of a mechanical tool, they check if it's working. That's basic human psychology. No matter who you are, when you get a lighter, you check if it's working and if it doesn't, you shake it to squeeze out the last of the fuel. There's a motion sensor inside that when shaken vigorously, it wipes the memory."

"Okay, I have to admit, that's fucking brilliant."

"Thanks for the compliment," I replied with a twinge of arrogance in my voice before taking a seat and smirking at the spitting image of Naruto looking at me with the look I would have attributed to a teenager seeing his favorite rock star. "Intel should be processing an audio sample of my interrogation of the man named Zetsu as we speak, and I'm sure you will find all your answers in there, Master."

Not two minutes later, Shikaku hastily knocked on the Master's door and didn't even wait for permission to enter. "Uh, Master? We just received an audio file and-" he gulped and looked from Minato's annoyed and curious gaze to my smug smirk, stuttering to find the words to describe what he just heard. "...You gotta hear this."

Minato got up and strode after the other assassin, his long coat fluttering behind him, leaving me alone in his room with a curt nod that meant I was dismissed. I sighed, tried and failed to repress another grin, and finally got up to go to my room. I already knew what the Master would hear on the mysterious recording, the entire process of interrogating Zetsu still fresh in my head. With the memories replaying in my head, I subconsciously grabbed the lighter from Minato's desk and made my way to Intel nonetheless, because I could already hear someone knocking on my door ten minutes from now requesting my presence to commentate on the recording.

I moved through the halls of HQ on auto pilot. These hallways had been witness of many of my nightmare-induced insomnia episodes, and therefore held no secrets to me anymore. In the eleven years that I had spent my life here, the maze of nearly identical corridors that made up our sanctuary had slowly unraveled themselves to the point that I didn't even need to think to reach my destination.

Yet not once in every nightmare that plagued me during my childhood had I experienced such horrors that were unfolding themselves under the nose of the most powerful organization on the planet. Under our noses.

I decided to repress that thought for now, as I arrived at Intel where Minato, Shikaku, Shikamaru, Tsunade, Kurenai and Naruto were all huddled around the center console operated by the younger Nara. It was weird to hear my own voice, usually so calm and stoic, sounding so malicious and sadistic, as if I took pleasure in torturing the informant. Which, in all reality, I did - he had stolen my friend's identity and almost murdered the entirety of the Black Rose one by one.

_"...In a position to ask questions. Where is he?"_

Zetsu's perfect imitation of Naruto's laugh sounded a little muffled, and more maniacal than I could remember. I braced myself for the deathly screech that followed when I pressed the cigar in his gunshot wound. The rest didn't and jumped. It was followed by silent whimpering, barely even audible. I recalled how I had raised the gun to shoot him in between his eyes, proved by the sound of a gun being primed to fire, then the 'shwing' of a blade being grabbed from somewhere.

_"Y-you- you're... g-good, Sasu- Sasuke..."_

_"Where. Is. Naruto?"_

The man coughed again, took a few deep breaths and said _"Fine, you win. Naruto Uzumaki is probably interrogating the poor Hyuuga girl right now about how she helped her cousin escape your prisons. She will have no idea what actually happened and your master will explain her ignorance as toughness, unfortunately pushing her too far over the edge and killing her."_

_"Who are you working for,"_ I heard myself press further.

_"My boy, as an descendant of the infamous Uchiha bloodline, you should already have figured it out by now."_ His smugness still made me want to kill him on the spot. I clenched my fists and had to actively stop myself from punching someone._ "After all, the one pulling the strings from the shadows you claim to love... Is one of your own blood."_

_"Madara,"_ I scoffed, followed by another agonizing scream that made Kurenai look at me with fear in her eyes. I purposefully didn't look back at her. _"Listen. Here's how it's gonna go: you're gonna be a good little boy and tell me everything about who you are and what the fuck you're doing here. And don't rush, you won't bleed out for at least a few hours."_ Rustles of someone pulling up a chair echoed throughout the room, its occupants dead silent. On the recording, Zetsu whimpered in pain and slightly wheezed while talking.

_"My name... Is Zetsu. I-I'm a Shapeshifter, capable of ta-taking on... th-the appearance of anyone I... Anyone I choose. Th-the Master-"_ He was interrupted by a sharp slapping sound, that I recalled being a slap in his face. My recorded voice sneered at him not to honor the vile worm Madara was with the title of Master. _"M-Mada-ra... found my abilities... i-intriguing, and he- he hired me to act out th-this plan of his... I was sent to hire- the two Hyuugas, and-"_ he took a few moments to properly catch his breath before continuing. "_The Hyuugas were to kill the Vampire Emperor, but I was supposed to take the male's place. So I shadowed them. I drove them apart with a forged contract set up by the- by Madara. I changed my appearance to his. Then I killed him."_

_"How long ago?"_

_"A week."_

"A week!?" Naruto roared. Minato just frowned.

"Madara... He's toying with us. We're doing exactly what he wants us to. Shikaku, cut it. I've heard enough."

With that, the Master turned on his heels and walked out of the room, and while six pairs of eyes followed his long coat fluttering behind him, he emitted a tranquilizing calmth that felt inappropriate given the circumstances. His peaceful smile didn't help to settle the confucion either. Shikaku hastily stopped the audio playback and turned to look at Minato again, desperately searching for an explanation or a statement or anything to thwart his insecurity.

But nothing from the Master. He slammed the door shut behind him and his footsteps echoed through the desolate halls, only barely drowning out the constant low buzz of the equipment. Naruto was the first to get up, grab my shoulder and pull me out of the room with him with ease. He practically threw me at the wall as soon as the door slammed shut, and out of instinct I dodged where I anticipated his punch to land. He didn't move an inch, though, doing nothing but making me look like a fool. I looked at him, surprised about his inconsistent bursts of aggression. "The fuck is your deal?"

Then, in the barely lit hallways, a ray of light reflected on a teardrop in his eyes, twinkling with the brightness that I used to recognize in Sakura's eyes. I immediately warmed up and walked over to embrace Naruto. Gladly returning it, he sighed deeply, taking his sweet time to regain control over his emotions.

"The demon is fucking with me."

I snorted. "In other news, the embodiment of evil is fucking with a young man's head. Back to you, Tom," I mocked the serious, deep voice of pre-nuke news anchors. It was enough to crack a smile on the blond's face. I smiled back and patted him on his shoulder a few times. "But seriously, what's up?"

"He's using a completely different strategy to get through to me. It's-" he paused and punched the wall, cracking the stone. "He's constantly being friendly and lending me power and support when I'm in a tough spot. It's as if he wants me to be alive and strong and in control, as if he's come to terms with his imprisonment."

"And you're not buying it?"

"When Dad was interrogating Hinata, I wanted to fucking tear him to shreds," Naruto admitted with a gray face. I blinked, but deep down I knew that this was nothing new for him. "And god forbid, I would have. I was halfway through the glass until something stopped me. Something inside me."

"What did it say?"

"He strongly advised me to sit tight and keep it together for a little longer. Something would happen very soon that would end my misery."

The next part I could guess: not too long after the demon's intervention, I barged in and stopped the torture interrogation of the Hyuuga girl to put the next chain of events in motion. The demon used this as leverage to testify for his credibility, and no amount of training could prepare an ordinary human being for emotional conflict of that scale. For something that claimed to hate humans as much as it hated everything else on the planet, it sure knew how psychology worked. And frankly, it scared the everloving shit out of me.

"Please tell me you're not buying it," I pleaded, almost intentionally letting a hint of desperation seep through my voice. My heart pounded with fear in the next moment of silence. To my relief, Naruto flashed a sarcastic smile that I recognized from when I looked in the mirror.

"Of course not. It's just making me want to punch holes in stone walls. Nothing I can't handle." The cynical comment was so true it almost hurt. He took a deep breath, straightened his shirt and stretched. "Anyway, I'm actually kinda curious what Dad figured out."

But upon reaching the Master's office, there was no response to Naruto's repeated knocks and yells. He even tried to bash the door in, but as was usual for a guy like Minato, it was protected with a magical barrier that repelled any force. I tried my best to stifle my laughter as the protection barrier flung my best friend through the hallway and against the wall. Still smirking mockingly, I offered him my hand, which he took with a grunt that held a middle between annoyance and pain (which, I was pretty sure, was the same thing for Naruto). He tied the lace of his combat boots again, wiggled his toes around for a comfortable fit and turned to me to say something when Kiba interrupted us.

"Hey, your brother's back. He seems pretty shaken up, he doesn't wanna talk to anyone. Not even Minato."

I looked to Naruto, whose body language read that that answered his unspoken question, before following Kiba to the main hall. Minato was still trying to extract information from my brother - my brother who looked like a heartbroken teenager being comforted by an understanding, wise parent. Itachi sat on a chair staring at his feet, unresponsive to any inquiry, his piercing red eyes obstructed by locks of his obsidian hair. I swore I heard a low growl coming from somewhere over my left shoulder, where I knew Naruto was; a fleeting smile flashed across my face as I imagined the blond as a six-foot watch dog smelling malicious intent. The next instant, however, I felt bad for making fun of the major inner turmoil he was putting up with that probably caused him to growl in the first place. After all, Itachi was the closest thing to an older brother Naruto ever had and the demon knew this.

Naruto, Kiba and I watched Minato's fruitless attempt to get Itachi to talk in silence for a minute or two, during which the latter seemed oblivious to our presence in the first place. Finally, the Master stood up with a desperate sigh and walked off, undoubtedly to get coffee (it was a Black Rose family tradition, apparently). As if we had talked about it beforehand, I took his place in front of Itachi. I rested my legs on the table in between us, made myself comfortable and just looked at him, hoping that my expression wouldn't give away how worried I was.

For the first time in about ten minutes, Itachi moved. He slowly looked up at me. I flinched a little when his eyes suddenly lit up - not with happiness, relief or even anger, but desperation. Unknowingly, I bit my lip and braced for the worst. "Sasuke," he croaked, his voice just as ghastly and broken as his expression. "We found her."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note]<p>

The plot thickens...  
>-V<p> 


	36. Notice

Hi guys.

This is just to let you know I'll be discontinuing this story. I've been incredibly busy with college and life and I feel it's not fair to you all having to wait for an update that probably won't come. I'm sorry to anyone who was holding out for an update, but I just don't have the inspiration to continue. If you really want to know what I had planned for later chapters, send me a PM and I'll tell you what I can.

Thanks for reading, reviewing, and giving your support. It was and is incredibly appreciated.

- VictimofYourOwnCreation


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